Lost Children
by Spyff921
Summary: The futures is very different from what it is now. Children only dream of freedom and many are placed in the black market, forced to fight bloody battles with one another to win freedom. Two teams will collide in their efforts to win.
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
The future of the world has changed drastically. Freedom is something that several children only dream about. The world is beyond the hindrances of environmental disorders and nuclear disasters. In the slums of a city five girls struggle to survive in their harsh environments. The environments not of nature, but that mankind has created. As Lost Girls, they are bought and forced to play the ancient game of basketball. Something once known as common entertainment, but through the years was transformed into a deadly sport.   
  
Over years, they attend a school where they are rejected by everyone and later beaten for voicing their opinions. The orphanage they live in (the Rat House) is only one of thousands of stations in the black market of Lost Children. Finally the girls know how they are able to escape from their life in the terrible rundown city; through championships and playing what they do best… basketball from a thousand years back.   
  
They are so close to their freedom they can smell it, but something comes between them and their freedom… the battle of other players in that city who are struggling for the same thing; freedom.   
  
These five young women meet another team of young men who are reaching for the same goal. What can the girls do? Freedom or friendship? Between the harsh life in the Rat House and their criticism at school, the girls must decide what they are to do. 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
Relena was so close. She could feel the thrill of victory rush through her as the ball soared straight through the hoop. A huge roar went up around her as the bets were being passed and fights broke out. She could have cared less. She had won the biggest game of her life. Relena stared on in wonder at this amazing accomplishment. She was suddenly lifted up onto shoulders and carried around in victory. She laughed joyfully as the trophy was handed over to her.   
  
Suddenly, Relena was jolted from her daydream and back into the classroom.   
  
"Miss Darlian, if you wish to gaze off into the lot next door, I think there is a place next to the principle's office with a better view." The teacher pointed to the door. Relena didn't try to argue. She had in the past and quickly learned that being an orphan affected how she was treated. People saw her as a parasite, being in a place only meant for the more privileged, where the resources could be put to better use. There were many others who were in her same situation, but it seemed as if the school board went out of its way to make sure she and the others that were enrolled in the same school would be together as little as possible. Further isolation was their goal and the board did a marvelous job at accomplishing this.   
  
Relena rolled her eyes and stood to leave as her classmates snickered at her turned back Felicity Trupmen was the first to jump at this new opportunity. The teacher could have cared less. The field was wide open for malicious comments.   
  
"There goes the little orphan girl. It's too bad her parents had to dump her on the doorsteps of a warehouse. Though, I still can't tell why they would have wanted such a loathsome person." The comment was followed by a delicate little snicker. Relena stopped at the door. Her eyes turned and centered in on Felicity's face. She could see the fear she had ignited in her classmate's eyes and she made a promise to show Miss Trupmen exactly how dangerous it was to threaten a dying woman. At least, that's what Relena considered herself and her teammates. They were all dying inside.   
  
"Relena, leave this instant!" cried the teacher when he noticed that she had not yet left. Relena turned back to the door and walked out and the room gave a sigh of relief. The teacher gave a disgusted growl and turned back to the chalkboard with that day's lesson. The usual route was taken and once again Hilde was sitting there waiting on the small wooden bench outside of the office.   
  
"What are you in for?" asked Relena wryly. Hilde smiled.   
  
"I was kind of tired, and I figured History was the best place to take a nap. What about you?" Relena shrugged.   
  
"I was caught staring off into space again."   
  
"What do you think Mr. Shin will say?"   
  
"Probably the usual lecture." Hilde jumped up and stood in a mock position of the principle. She stood tall, legs spread, fists on hips and a 'stern look' on her face.   
  
"Young ladies, I think you two have some problems. Either you fix them or we'll have to do something about these unfortunate behavior problems." Relena laughed.   
  
"You were actually listening last time?"   
  
"I'm hurt!" said Hilde sarcastically. "You think I would actually ignore what the principle says?" Relena grunted, once again, reminded of their helpless situation. Her mind was brought back to the situation at hand and she slapped on smile.   
  
"Of course!" Hilde looked insulted, but her good nature took over.   
  
"You're right!" They both began to laugh. Suddenly, the door to the office flew open and the tall frame of the principle outlined the doorway.   
  
"That's very interesting girls. I guess we'll just have to make you stay here until you do listen." Relena and Hilde glanced at each other and groaned. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Dorothy Catalonia ran towards the basketball hoop, her mind centered fully on her goal. She didn't even have a chance of making it as she caught a glimpse of Catherine's body flying to intercept.   
  
"Natria!" Dorothy threw the ball to the young woman nearby. It was caught with ease and a second later it was through the hoop. Catherine turned and smiled at Natria.   
  
"Nice shot! If you play like that we'll make it to the championships for sure."   
  
"Yeah and we're going to win our way out of this God forsaken city!"   
  
"You got it. It's Tokyo we're heading for!" cried Dorothy with enormous enthusiasm. The other two could only shake their heads with small smiles across their faces.   
  
"Where're Relena and Hilde? We need to get back to the Rat House before Owner throws another one of his fits," said Natria.   
  
"I don't know. I wonder if they got into trouble again at school," stated Dorothy.   
  
"I didn't see them after class. I bet it was that stupid history teacher again," said Catherine.   
  
"You know there isn't anything we can do about it. All we that can do is sit back and let them beat us down to their heart's content."   
  
"Hey!" They turned towards the voice. "Where's the ball let's play!" yelled Hilde good-naturedly. She came running up with Relena close behind. Relena ran over and grabbed the ball, making her way towards the others.   
  
"Okay, I'm out and Hilde's paired up with Catherine…" started Relena.   
  
"No, I've already been playing for an hour," said Dorothy. "I'll be out first." Relena smiled and threw the ball to her friend. As soon as the ball was in Dorothy's hands, Relena and Catherine settled into the starting positions as their teammates stood to guard the hoops. The two teams smirked at each other in good-natured rivalry, knowing they were equally matched.   
  
Dorothy slowly made her way in between the two teams and threw the ball into the air. Relena and Hilde leaped for the ball. Relena knocked the ball towards Natria who took it to the basket. Cathy stood firmly in her path. Watching the ball carefully, Cathy ran forward just as Natria threw the basketball. One thing that always amazed anyone who watched Cathy play was how high she could jump. After taking the ball she immediately threw it to Hilde. Relena was guarding her, but Hilde saw the opening and managed to take the ball back. Relena's arms were spread in the guarding position.   
  
"Getting slow Relena?" mocked Hilde teasingly. Relena smiled and looked at Hilde and quickly sped forward, sweeping past her opponent and at the same time seizing the ball. She quickly made her way to the basket. She threw the ball straight towards the hoop. It teetered on the edge and finally went in with a small gust of wind. Catherine stepped forward to take the ball back again. Hilde let out a shout and was passed the ball. Their game continued for several more minutes.   
  
"It's almost five! We're going to be late," pointed out Dorothy. Relena waved them away.   
  
"I'm going to stay here and shoot a few more baskets."   
  
"You sure?" asked Natria with an incredulous look.   
  
"It's going to be dark soon," added Dorothy.   
  
"I'll be fine." The others nodded and turned to go. Hilde turned back as Relena distractedly dribbled the ball to the center of the broken down court.   
  
"Do you think we're going to make it?" Relena glanced at her then shot the ball. It went through smoothly.   
  
"It's not of matter of whether or not we will make it, Hilde. It's a matter of showing everyone the meaning of these games." Her teammate looked confused. Relena didn't care if they won? "You better get going Hilde. The others are probably half way back by now." Hilde hesitated only once before turning in the direction of the other girls.   
  
Relena was now left with her own thoughts. She new that every time she was left to think her mind went deep into another world. Underneath her cool exterior she was troubled. Her team didn't understand what was to come upon them. Relena knew there was more to the game then met the eye. As long as the game existed there would be despair and pain for all who were involved. For her teammates, being teamed with her was the worst thing for them. All of their hard work was only to be wasted. At that time, all of her frustrations came to the surface. She and the other girls were the best in the slums, but at school, it didn't mean anything to the others. In fact, the amount of basketball the girls played was a factor that made them even lower in the eyes of other 'normal' people. Relena had always been angry at the bias opinion of the other students. She never showed it of course, at least not in public. It was bad enough that her team was never to see the sky, free from bondage. Now was one of those times that she let her frustration rise up. The ball flew furiously with a terrifying speed. Each time the ball went straight through. Then she ran up to make a slam-dunk. Her hands held on even as the ball hit the ground and rolled away. Finally she let go and dropped to the ground panting. She wiped her forehead of its cold sweat as she looked up at the battered hoop.   
  
"I think you've got a problem." Relena turned and immediately centered in on the young man from among the shadows. He stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the fence. She barely spared him a glance as she walked over to the basketball and casually picked it up. She then turned back to the stranger and spun the ball in her hands; glancing at the ball and then to stare at him.   
  
"Problem?"   
  
"Yes." The young man stood straight and came into the light. He was stunningly handsome. His brown hair was unruly in a devilish kind of way and his deep Prussian eyes stared into her with a disturbing attentiveness.   
  
"Yeah, you might say I have a problem. This whole city is my problem." Relena eyed him wearily as he took another step closer. "Come any closer and I'll beat you to within an inch of your death." He stopped immediately.   
  
"If the city is such a problem why…"   
  
"Why don't I just leave?" Relena laughed cynically. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." She turned and made a move to leave.   
  
"You're a Lost Girl, aren't you?" Relena froze. Yes she was. He had guessed right on the head. An orphan bought in the black market and sold literally into slavery. Few people knew of that term unless they were actually apart of the market. Relena's eyes narrowed.   
  
"Yes I am. I heard a rumor there was a group of boys who are just like us. Except they have a better chance at winning the championships. They play basketball, but the rumor also says that they aren't allowed out until after dark." Relena took in his pale skin and strong muscles. She knew she was right. This was a Lost Boy. He seemed to catch on to what she was saying rather quickly.   
  
"There are quite a few Lost Children in the city. You may have the wrong guy."   
  
"You play basketball. Why else would you be out now? Other Lost Children are held in tight confinements, unless they play a blood sport. Their owners want them to excel in their skills so they can gain money."   
  
"Nice observation." She nodded curtly.   
  
"We're getting out of here. There's nothing you or anyone else can do about it." She walked past him and turned to glare into his eyes, daring him to see through her lies.   
  
"We want out. You have not lived the life of a Ureal/U Lost Child. Not the pain of a whip or fist. Remember that."   
  
"How do you know this?" growled the young man, obviously ruffled by her comments.   
  
"Rumors travel fast of the more privileged." She began to leave but her arm was suddenly being held in a vice-like grip.   
  
"There are no privileges in being a Lost Child." Relena turned to stare into dark eyes. Her hatred for everything welled up within her and came pouring out of her mouth.   
  
"Your Uowner/U never lets you out until night and once you're out, you have complete free rein of what you do. I consider that a privilege, but you are still being fooled. All Lost Children, if they're lucky enough, may go to school, but you don't know anyone personally except for your own teammates. Right after school you're ordered to go straight back to your owner, not seeing the others like yourself." He never flinched, but his grip tightened noticeably. "You're sheltered… some prized horse so your owner can bet on you as you play for him out in the arena. Your blood means nothing when it runs red in front of everyone. You may think you're better in skills and in talent, but you're not." Relena stared at his face for what seemed to be forever. Finally, he threw her arm away and stepped back.   
  
"I learned early in life not to become too attached to anyone. Being kind shows weakness and being close always causes pain. Cruelty is the only way that does not create heartbreak, if there is such a thing for people like us."   
  
"Those kinds of beliefs aren't always true." He didn't even seem to believe what he was saying.   
  
"Better live with it. Because all normal Children are like that. I have a few people I talk to and I'd like it to stay that way. There is more to this game than it seems. I know that already, but you have yet to learn this. For people like me, we're the worst kind to be teamed with. Unfortunately, my teammates have not figured that out yet. I know because…" She cut herself off immediately and looked around, suddenly noticing how dark it had gotten. She turned away once again and ran into the shadows. The young man stared after her. Then he spoke as if she was still there.   
  
"Hello, my name is Heero Yuy. Best player you've ever met."   
  
Relena was sprinting, trying to get home before Owner noticed she was late. Her home was fondly named the Rat House. It was given off as an orphanage when in reality it was only a station in the black market of Lost Children. Her team and a few other Lost Children all belonged to the man in charge of the station. Any others there were up for sale and shipping.   
  
She was late and she knew she was going to pay for it, but she didn't care. Beatings were natural now and besides, her owner wouldn't kill her. He needed her to bet on in the games. The games paid thousands to the winners and with that money; they could buy their freedom, or so thought her teammates. Basketball had changed a lot since the turn of the century. There virtually were no definable rules. No consequences for injuries. It had turned into a blood sport and everyone knew most of the players were Lost Children. They are the only people willing to participate in this sport. It was the only way out of slavery. Get good at blood sports or be a slave for the rest of your life. There are two kinds of Lost Children. The kinds that are meant only for servitude and those that are bet on for sports. Luckily, Relena had talent. Her particular owner actually collected Lost Children with such talents. He found Relena on sale in a stand in Europe. She was seven years old and he never made her conditions much better.   
  
Relena entered the doorway slowly. The entrance and front halls were decent (in consideration of what the building looked like on the outside) but as she went further into the bowels of the structure, everything became damp and bleak. Nothing soft to look at. Pipes hung out and dripped. A few children sat in the hall, unmoving looking like old rag dolls… lifeless. Relena continued on and turned into a room. The other girls sat inside with one blinking overhead light. The bunks were framed with rotting wood and thin pieces of cloth were used as mats. Other than a small box of basketball clothes, rags imitating clothing, and the girls' uniforms they wore, there was nothing else. It was as if the moment the girls were in the Rat House, they were transformed from the competitive players to meek lifeless dolls like those out in the hallways. They looked up at her entrance and eyed her sadly.   
  
"You should have come back with us," said Catherine, fear emanating from her voice.   
  
"Owner is mad," said Dorothy faintly. Suddenly, a thundering came from down the hall. Owner was drunk again.   
  
"You brat! What have I told you?" He flew into the room with a bottle in his hand. He stumbled once and focused his drunken eyes on Relena. She shivered. Then he let out an enraged cry, heading straight towards her. Natria ran forward but she was quickly backhanded. The other girls caught her as she fell. Terrified the girls huddled in the corner and watched as their friend was pummeled with blow after blow. The sound of glass breaking followed after a faint cry as Relena struggled to evade the blows. Catherine sat crying into Dorothy's shoulder as each time the lamp went out and flickered on showing a new horrifying image. Hilde was on all fours looking as if she wanted to run to her friend. Instead her hands were clenched into fists and her eyes shimmered with tears. The sound of a bone cracking and another back hand nearly sent Natria over the edge, but finally, Owner stepped back heaving and spat on Relena's crumbled form. He turned and stared at the others and smiled drunkenly as they backed away in fear.   
  
After he stumbled back out, they quickly ran over to Relena.   
  
"Relena!"   
  
"Oh God!"   
  
"She's out."   
  
"Quick! Grab a cloth! I don't care what anything!" cried Dorothy.   
  
"Relena, please wake up…" 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Relena was counted as absent for several days and Natria wore her bruised cheek with shame. No one mocked the girls at the time. They knew something had happened and it would be best not to make any of the Lost Girls upset. Like many neighborhoods with bad events going through the streets, everyone knew what went on behind closed doors and nailed windows. There was always suspicion of the black market in the streets. Yet it was an unsaid rule not to mention any of the happenings of the Lost Children's business. Every Lost Child knew there was no help outside of the market.   
  
After the incident with Relena, the Lost Girls ran out and played on the courts with a renewed determination and vigor. The games started in another month and Relena had to heal quickly. Their freedom depended upon it.   
  
"Over here!" Catherine waved to Dorothy to pass the ball, but she was elbowed none too lightly in her stomach by Hilde. She gasped and fell back, landing hard on her side. Coughing, she stood back up and ran back onto the court.   
  
"You didn't have to hit so hard." Hilde merely rolled her eyes.   
  
"Get used to it, because the real players we're against will do anything and everything to stop us. Besides, you know better than to yell out for the ball. That's exactly what's going to happen if you do or even worse." Catherine glared up at her teammate, but she knew that Hilde was right. The building pressure was even starting to irritate Hilde.   
  
Dorothy threw the ball to Catherine. The ball was in midair when Natria intercepted its course. She dribbled towards the hoop where Dorothy was guarding. Seeing that Natria was unstoppable, Dorothy flung herself forward and shoved her shoulder into her opponent's ribs. The ball fell and bounced a few feet before Catherine dodged for it and held it close to her stomach as she ran back into the center of the court. As she turned to make a basket, Natria seemed to come out of nowhere to place a blade dangerously close to her throat. Catherine rolled her eyes, but still not moving. The girls rarely used weapons, but when they did, it usually meant serious business.   
  
"Put that away, Natria. We're not out there yet."   
  
"Catherine, you're going to have to learn that it is going to be dangerous out there. There are no rules and the players are going to be just as desperate as we are. They will do anything short of killing you, not even short of that, they bwill /b kill you." Catherine hung her head as she absorbed the realization that they were only months away from possible freedom. Without another thought Natria pulled them back into the game.   
  
"Come on, let's try this again. We'll switch up. Me with Dorothy and you with Hilde, sound good?" Catherine nodded. They were all winded at that point. Dorothy clapped her hands once as a signal that she was ready; her eyes were centered on only proceeding with the game. The ball flew to her at her signal. Her fingers had only brushed the ball before Catherine half-heartedly nailed her in the side with her foot. The ball was quickly taken for the opposite team. It hurt, but Dorothy was proud of Catherine. She was a gentle person by nature, but she was as stubborn as a bulldog.   
  
The game continued on even through Natria's bloody nose due to an elbow from Hilde. It wasn't until Uthey/U showed up. A group of girls from the school were walking by with their books in their arms, chatting away over the most trivial things, at least anything that the Lost Girls would laugh cynically about. The ball rolled in front of them and they stopped walking. Their eyes focused on the girls and looked disgusted by the blood caked around Natria's mouth from her bloodied nose. Her eyes narrowed and she deliberately used her tongue to lick away a little of the dried blood around the corner of her mouth. The girls seemed aghast by her actions. This gave Natria a small bit of satisfaction as she smirked at the other girls. Finally one of the girls, Shelly, stepped towards the ball and picked it up. She seemed to have as little contact with it as possible as she threw it out in front of a passing car. The ball was thrown across the street by the speeding wheels, finally landing in a large pile of mud. The girls laughed delicately.   
  
"Now the ball can be as dirty as you," said Shelly snobbishly as she made a point of pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her hands clean of the filth from the ball. Hilde seemed to growl as she took a step forward. The girls backed away, as if a vicious animal had suddenly been dropped right in front of them. Dorothy laid a hand on Hilde's shoulder, who seemed to make an effort to hold herself back.   
  
"I suggest you leave this side of the block before I turn my friend loose on you," chided Dorothy. The fear in the girls' eyes was evident, but they stood firmly in place, not wanting to lose to these insignificants.   
  
"I don't think you can do anything to us." Catherine laughed cynically.   
  
"Have you looked at our friend there?" She nodded to Natria and her bloody nose. "If we can do that to our own friends, imagine what we'll do to people we don't like." Now the girls were afraid and turned slowly as if to leave, they hesitated. Hilde and Dorothy pulled out their pocketknives and spun them skillfully in their agile fingers. The girls ran. Catherine laughed at the backs that were disappearing over the hill.   
  
"Natria, go get the ball, we're going to take a break." Natria rolled her eyes at Hilde's lazy command. She didn't even bother looking for cars as she ran across the street and into the bunched trees where the ball rested. She reached for the ball and realized it was covered in mud. She sighed and grabbed it full in her hands and started to stand up straight when she bumped into someone who was standing behind her. She spun around with her knife glimmering in the sun. Her eyes narrowed when she came face to face with a young Chinese man about her own age. He eyed the basketball.   
  
"You play?" Natria raised an eyebrow and ignored his question. She turned and made to walk past him. He put out his arm to block her way.   
  
"Were you the one who spoke to Heero the other night?" She stopped in her tracks and pulled back to stare into his eyes. Her bruise became more pronounced as she paled slightly under his stare.   
  
"No, why?"   
  
"Because my friend met a girl the other night and now he's been pushing the limits with our owner ever since."   
  
"Pushing the limits?"   
  
"He's a Lost Boy, one of the best in the game, but it's like he's asking for a beating. Our owner hasn't ever gotten into a rage before, but he did a few days ago." Natria smirked.   
  
"Really? That's not new for my team." She hesitated as his eyes roamed down to the bruise that mapped her cheek. She drew his attention away from the mark. "She was the one who talked to… Heero. She was beaten because he made her late coming back to the Rat House." The young man's eyebrow went up.   
  
"May I ask what happened to your friend?" Natria's eyes went dull as she remembered the horrifying experience. It wasn't as if this young man needed explaining. Natria should have been good enough proof as in to the misfortune of her teammate.   
  
"She's been at home ever since… broken collarbone, I think, a few fractured ribs..." She didn't wish to continue. She closed her eyes to the images that flooded her mind. She turned and started to move past him. He blocked her way once again.   
  
"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend." Natria ignored him and remained silent. "Your friend was right. We are sheltered." Her eyes shot up and stared at him.   
  
"Heero came home demanding that we stay out during the day right after school ends. Our owner was furious. Heero hasn't been allowed to leave the house since. Then Heero tempted him to beat him… Our owner said something about us being too valuable to beat. So he put Heero in a room that's locked and bolted. Our owner has never hit us due to his fear that he would injure us too badly to play our best in the games." Natria sneered and eyed him up and down.   
  
"You're weak then." She made to leave for the third time but he swung her around.   
  
"We are not weak. Every single one of us had a life before we were bought by our owner. Each of us has been through pain and I can assure you that I'm not weak." Natria eyed his face closely. It was handsome and full of a constant pain that she knew reflected in her own features. Shaking her head, she looked away.   
  
"That may be true, but as long as you stay in a sheltered enslavement, you'll never have to deal with pain. The others will be wondering where I am. It was… interesting …"   
  
"Chang. Wufei Chang." Natria nodded, seeming disinterested.   
  
"It was nice having this little chat Wufei. I'm sure we'll meet again in the championships, if you make it that far." Wufei didn't take the bait. She turned and walked away.   
  
"Oh, one more thing… Heero did manage to change my owner's mind. The others and I will be out in the streets during the day from now on." Natria nodded. "What was your name?"   
  
"I don't give that courtesy out too often to strangers." Wufei's eyebrows lifted.   
  
"That's seems rather strict. Perhaps since we'll be crowding each other a little bit more we'll become more than strangers."   
  
"I'll enjoy seeing you try to do that; not many people succeed in becoming familiar with my team."   
  
"I take it as a challenge then?"   
  
"If you'd like to consider it that," Natria said indifferently. She turned and walked back to the courts. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Heero looked around the dark room. Even without any light, he had memorized the corners and crevices within the walls that surrounded him. Hiroshi had been irritated and placed him in this bleak room, he should be expected to know his way around in the dark. To tell the truth, he was sick of that dark room with its windowless walls and dank surroundings. But every single moment he would think about not challenging his owner to avoid such punishment, a memory of the young woman would flash through his mind. He glared off into the darkness. She had made some true and untrue accusations. The end result of his aggravation with her was this room. She seemed to understand too well what life was like, unlike some other people including Lost Children.   
  
"There is more to this game than it seems. I know that already, but you have yet to learn this. For people like me, we're the worst kind to be teamed up with." The memory of her saying this suddenly ran through his mind. It was disturbing for some reason. Heero stood up and looked at the bolted window. He only wished to tear the damn thing apart to let the sun shine in. He shook his head and turned to sit back down leaning against the wall. A man could go crazy in such conditions.   
  
Moments later, the door flew open, letting in a flood of light. Heero shadowed his eyes from the sudden light. His owner stood there. Heero did not meet his eyes, but forced himself to relax. He was angry with his owner, but he was not going to permit himself to let it show; he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. His owner's name was Hiroshi, Genshi Hiroshi. Heero had always known him as Hiroshi, but heard others speak of him as the Relentless Hound. He was known for his stubbornness when his gambling and fortunes were involved. Heero despised him for it. It was something that he had no control over and despite his upbringing for this life, he wanted more than ever to be in control.   
  
Hiroshi moved to sit next to him. Heero did not react at all. Silence fell over them like a cloak.   
  
"I'm very generous to let you even play your way out of this life. More than likely you will succeed. I will not stop you from your freedom, yet I will not help anymore than I have to." His voice was thick and slow like molasses. Silence fell over them as Heero did not respond. Hiroshi let out a small grunt as he shifted positions to get a better view of Heero in the small amount of light from the doorway. Hiroshi was no small man, his left eye had a long scar running from the top of the eyebrow to his cheekbone; a small souvenir from his younger days as a lost child.   
  
"I don't know if it will be so easy to let you go," he stated after a moment of silence, waiting to see if his prized possession would react. Heero jerked his head up and stared furiously at Hiroshi, who smiled wickedly. Heero slapped himself mentally. He played right into Hiroshi's hands. He showed him his anger without intending to. "But than again, why else did I buy another young boy to replace you, with such talents in the bloody game of football. It is amazing to think that people used to play these games with such restrictive rules! It is so much more exciting to watch people bitterly fight for their lives, it makes others realize what life is and the cruelties that come with the package. Their happiness is an illusion created by their own minds and therefore, may be shattered as easily as I might shatter your hope to freedom." Heero lowered his gaze once again, vowing not to show any further emotions. He couldn't help but wonder why Hiroshi was telling him this when it would, in the end, have no gain whatsoever over the results of the games.   
  
"I was once like you. I only hope that one day you will see why I have not simply set you free. I am teaching you the value of working towards your freedom and of what value that will be as you grow old, like me. When you have your freedom, you will find it even more precious than friendship, love, and yes, even the meaning of your very life." Hiroshi saw that Heero did not intend to answer or respond so he sighed and ran his strong hand through his thinning hair.   
  
"Go on. Join the others." Heero got up silently and left without a glance at Hiroshi. Hiroshi secretly smiled to himself. "He will see one day. Then he will thank me."   
  
Heero found Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Wufei standing in a court near a rundown warehouse. It was the usual place where they met and they all were expecting him to show up sooner or later. Quatre waved over to him. Heero only nodded in response, not speeding up his gait towards them.   
  
"Hiroshi let you out of there early today?" asked Duo with a glance at Heero's weary eyes. Heero didn't say anything. Being used to such icy treatment, Duo merely shrugged and turned to the hoop, putting the ball through. He went to retrieve it.   
  
"The championships are coming soon and we're still a long way from being the best," said Trowa bluntly. "Stop pissing Hiroshi off so we can actually get some work done."   
  
"If I'm a Lost Boy, then I wish to be treated like one." Wufei's brow wrinkled in protest at this statement. They had grown weary and angry by their friend's behavior. If he continued to do this they would never win their freedom in the games.   
  
"Consider yourself lucky then. This sure beats living with an abusive owner. At least when Hiroshi punishes us, he won't kill us," said Quatre. Heero gave him a head on glare.   
  
"I don't like having it the easy way. I don't deserve any better treatment than any other Lost Child."   
  
"Heero, you don't know what the easy way is. Because you've lived it your entire life. You have been with Hiroshi for years and you can't even remember what life was like before you were with him." Heero swung back around to glare at Wufei. "You don't even know what the daily life of a Lost Child is like," he continued.   
  
"You were beaten and put into slavery," spoke Heero bluntly.   
  
"Yes, we were beaten and do you know what comes of a beating?" said Duo angrily. They all glanced at him in surprise. Heero was not effected at all by it. Duo strode forward and lifted up his sleeve. There was an ugly jagged scar that was rough from the scar tissue and a small line of a scar encircled it.   
  
"My owner thought it would be fun to use me as a piece of carving wood. So don't you dare use those simplistic words to describe what we went through. We went through hell, not just enslavement, Heero. That's a commodity you were able to avoid for so long. So stop being the spoiled pretty boy and accept what you have." Heero refused to respond to this. Wufei saw that they would not get it through to him.   
  
"Heero, that young woman you talked to…" There was a hint of recognition in Heero's eyes before he turned to stare at Wufei. "She was beaten because of her tardiness home that night." Heero's eyes narrowed.   
  
"How do you know this?" he said coldly.   
  
"A young woman who's apart of that particular market informed me that her friend was beaten. She seemed rather… displeased to see me." Heero stepped forward calmly so he was nearly an inch in front if Wufei's face.   
  
"Where is she staying?"   
  
"Heero… you met her once…"   
  
"Where!" he suddenly yelled, grabbing his shoulders, shaking them viciously. Wufei gave in quickly.   
  
"I don't know, but I can tell you where they practice." Heero shook him again.   
  
"Tell me."   
  
"You met her once!" cried Wufei, his frustration mounting.   
  
No one moved, or spoke for a long moment. Finally, Wufei expelled a breath and stared into Heero's eyes.   
  
"In the old lot next to the girls' high school. I've watched and found that they go to different courts. Most of them are run down and unstable to play on."   
  
"They want to be prepared for the championships," muttered Trowa. "Why didn't we think of that?" Before anyone had a chance to react, Heero departed from the court in the direction of the mentioned location. The others glanced at one another and suddenly, Duo was running to catch up with their teammate.   
  
"Hey! Wait for me!" Heero kept on moving.   
  
"He's heading for trouble," grumbled Trowa. Quatre shook his head.   
  
"Come on, forget it. Let's get practicing. We don't have time to go chasing after girls." Wufei was suddenly reminded of his opponent's name. He would enjoy accepting the challenge she made earlier. He smiled ever so slightly. As a result, he was nearly bowled over by Trowa due to lack of concentration.   
  
"Wake up Wufei!" he yelled.   
  
Wufei only grumbled an expletive and pulled himself back into the game.   
  
"Hey Heero, would you slow down for a sec?" cried Duo as he was catching up to his friend. Heero paid no attention to him. Heero only needed to talk to her once, and that was all, but Wufei said that she had been beaten. He swallowed down any guilt. He was fuming at Wufei. Wufei claiming that he did not know real pain… ha! He knew pain; none of them realized that he still remembered what his life was like before Hiroshi. He just chose to let them believe what they wanted. Shaking the memories, he ran on towards the courts and just as Wufei had claimed, there were the girls. Heero stood behind a tree and watched carefully to find the vixen that had put him into so much turmoil. She wasn't there. Heero remained crouching there as Duo found him.   
  
"Heero? What are you doing, man?" Heero hushed him. Duo rolled his eyes and knelt down next to him. He noticed Heero's eyes attached on the game in front of them and so he followed his gaze and then the players caught him. Their movements were fast and born of sheer desperation. Everything they did from their knives to the way they dodged and punched was incredible. How could this team be so good and no one had ever heard of them? Duo stared at each of the players and his eyes settled on a dark haired young woman. Her lip was bleeding and her eyes held a kind of pain Duo could only remember from a year ago. She knew what each game was for… another step towards freedom, that's exactly how he felt. His eyes began to examine her up and down and were  
  
impressed. For such a small young woman, she packed quite a punch… literally.   
  
They must have been sitting there for an hour when the girls began to pack up their meager belongings and head out. At that moment, Heero made a move to follow them. Duo saw what Heero was about to do and protested.   
  
"Whoa, wait… hold on, we're not going to follow those girls! This is ludicrous!" His objections fell upon closed ears as they followed the girls several blocks. Then they came to an old run down building and Duo stared in shock. It looked as if someone had taken a bunch of bricks thrown them together and said come on in! Duo glanced at Heero as his friend did not hesitate for a second. The moment the door was closed, Heero went around the back and peaked in through the windows.   
  
"Hey, Heero, this isn't such a good idea. What if we get caught! I'm serious, man. We are in deep shit if Hiroshi finds out," cried Duo quietly.   
  
"He won't find out," said Heero. He searched every window and found nothing, so he looked around the ground and saw that one of the basement windows was cracked and bore a large hole in the middle. Heero's stoic face remained as he forced it open and slowly eased his way in after checking if the coast was clear. Duo bit his lip nervously and finally followed Heero into the depths of hell.   
  
Heero landed on the ground noiselessly and looked around once again as Duo stealthily made his way through the window as well. There were some old cement stairs going up and Heero immediately made his way up to an old wooden door with a squeaky knob. He opened it slowly and glanced around. There was a child sitting further down the hall. Heero was about to come out, but a gruff voice stopped him immediately. He pulled back the door again as a large man drunkenly walked by and swung around a bottle of liquor. Heero's eyes narrowed as he guessed that was the young woman's owner, the one that had beaten her. The man shoved the little boy aside and kept on his war path down the hall. Heero waited another moment and stepped through the doorway, ignoring the little boy's wide eyes at his sudden appearance. Duo smiled a little at the boy, who shrank away. A twinge of memories hit Heero and he turned away completely, pretending to examine the hallway. Duo walked over and offered an outstretched hand. The little boy seemed to grow even smaller as if he was trying to shrink into the wall.   
  
"Do you know where we can find five young women that play in the games? The little boy eyed him up and down and nodded slowly. At this response, Heero turned and indicated for the boy to lead them through the dark corridors. They made several confusing turns and twists, leading from one hall to another, each inch getting dirtier and darker. Duo looked around in disgust. This was what he had lived in for much of his life. Finally, they arrived in front of a door less room. A blinking light was hanging from the ceiling as they found the girls lying around lazily, not able to do anything else. The girl with the dark hair was throwing a ball up in the air as she lay on a board that resembled a bunk and catching it.   
  
They all acknowledged the young men's presence at the same time.   
  
"Tommy, who are these people?" asked a young blond woman kindly to the little boy.   
  
"I don't know… they were looking for you." Dorothy smiled and patted the little boy's head. He grinned, showing two missing front teeth and he was suddenly running down the hall. From the shadows, stepped a young woman. Heero knew her right away, except her arm was sloppily bandaged, and there was a stain of green and yellow on a disappearing bruise. Heero's eyes connected with hers. She didn't seem too happy to see him, as he had guessed. She was about to say something, but a crashing sound interrupted her. Her eyes widened as did the other girls and they all went from calm to being on the brink of panic. The young woman with brown hair and green eyes pulled on Duo and Heero's arms and indicated for them to hide under the bunks. Duo was under one and Heero under another. Just as they were safely hidden away, the young boy, Tommy, was literally thrown into the room. Catherine ran forward to catch the falling boy. Tommy's eyes were wide with fear as they all turned to find the owner standing in the doorway, drunk as usual. His eyes squinted and narrowed as he tried to focus on one thing. He slurred out to the boy.   
  
"Wha' are you doin' ere boy? You're s'pposed ta be wid the other brats." Tommy was shaking in Catherine's arms. He tried to form some coherent words, but did not succeed in producing any sound but whimpers. Catherine clutched Tommy to her chest tightly as Owner took a step closer. Hilde rushed forward and knelt hugging the boy and Catherine, as if to protect them. Owner growled in disapproval. He came closer as the other girls backed away in fear. He reached forward, grabbing Hilde by her collar and held her up as if to examine her.   
  
"Get out of my way you filthy brat!" he grumbled and threw her away from himself, letting her hit the wall. She slid down, her back leaning against the surface. Her eyes were having trouble focusing. Catherine held on tighter to Tommy, preparing for the onslaught. Hilde shook her head and placed a hand to her tender skull. Glaring at Owner, she ran forward again stubbornly to kneel down in front of her. Natria and Dorothy now decided that Hilde had gone over the edge. Their friend's eyes were blazing. Relena shook her head as she watched Hilde begin the futile mission of stopping Owner. 'Hilde.'   
  
As this was all going on, Heero and Duo were hiding tensely under the bunks. Duo watched the feet. A pair of large ones was drunk as they stepped forward and he saw the brown haired young woman and Tommy sitting on the floor right next to his bunk.   
  
Then that dark haired young woman looked as if she was trying to stop their owner from doing anything. She turned and whispered something over her shoulder to the young woman sitting with Tommy.   
  
"Catherine… when he comes after me, take Tommy and get him out of here. Owner will forget about him." Owner seemed to be getting irritated and was ready to charge like a rabid bull. Catherine seemed to go into shock.   
  
"Hilde, you're going to get us all killed." Duo made the effort of peering a little out from under his hiding place and saw just the bottom of the young woman's mouth curl up slightly as she sadly looked down at her friend. Hilde knew what was going to happen.   
  
"Don't worry. He can only have enough strength to beat one of us. Might as well be the strongest of us all." She was teasing, but Catherine did not laugh. Suddenly, Owner ran forward and tackled Hilde, hitting her low in the gut. She let out an 'oof' and Catherine pulled Tommy closer to her as she began to edge away from the beating to come. Tommy whimpered, but Catherine quickly clamped her hand over his mouth. Only Catherine, Tommy, and Duo heard the giving statements from Hilde. Duo frowned as he saw Hilde's feet slide back as she was slapped hard across her face. He glanced over at Heero and saw that his teammate's fists were clenched. He felt a sick sense of justice when he saw Heero was seeing what many Lost Children went through daily. Duo quickly wiped that thought from his head and returned his gaze back to Hilde. She fell after the second blow and landed on her back. The foot came crashing down, barely hitting her square in the stomach. Hilde had rolled slightly and it hit her side instead. She let out a cry and Duo's jaw clenched. In that moment, Catherine let the boy run out the door unnoticed and she sighed slightly in relief as Tommy disappeared into the darkness, into safety.   
  
Turning over onto her stomach, Hilde tried to crawl away from the foot that continued to rain down on her sides. Tears were forming in her eyes as the pain enveloped her. Duo stared as Hilde's face came within inches from his. Her eyes were clenched shut in pain as tears leaked out and ran down her cheeks. He felt his insides wrench around as he heard the low thud of a body being beaten. His muscles bunched, preparing to fly out and pummel the owner, but Heero caught his eyes and shook his head against the actions he knew what his friend was planning on doing. Duo held onto his sanity longer, but it still felt as if every fiber of his own body was being hit. With one last cry, Hilde fell flat onto the floor and didn't move. Owner continued to beat her before he realized that she had given out. He snorted and stumbled backwards. Then his gaze wandered around the room, as if he was wondering what he was doing there. No one moved, or even breathed. Finally, Owner turned around and tripped his way out of the room. After they listened to his receding footsteps, they all shot forward at once and aided Hilde.   
  
Duo saw that Catherine and Dorothy were trying to pick Hilde up, but realized that they could drop her and cause further damage. He shot forward and cradled her in his arms and they indicated to him to place her on one of the bunks. After doing so, they all set to trying to revive Hilde and checking for injuries. Relena stood back and watched as Heero pulled himself out from under the bunk. Just as he looked up, he found himself staring at the tip of a sharp knife. Relena's eyes were blazing at him.   
  
"What are you doing here, you bastard?" she growled angrily. Obviously she had decided to blame him for this occurrence. He stared coldly at her.   
  
"I came because I need to talk to you."   
  
"What about?" she hissed as she edged the knife closer. The tip of metal barely scraped his skin now.   
  
"You mentioned certain things about the games the first time I met you and I want to know what you meant by them." Relena growled clenching her fingers around her knife.   
  
"It just sounds as if you're obsessed with me and stalked me all the way to my home." She edged the knife a little downward coming very close to the Heero's throat. Relena heard a groan from behind her and she turned to see that Hilde was coming to once again.   
  
"Are you going to live Hilde?" asked Dorothy. Hilde lifted a hand and rubbed her head, wincing at the pain that shot through her entire body. She looked around as the pain ebbed slightly.   
  
"What happened? It feels as if a mega train hit me," she said painfully. Catherine glared at her friend.   
  
"In answer to your first question, you were being an idiot and in response to your last comment, technically, you were hit by a mega train, one that was drunk." Hilde smiled a little if not with a little twitch of the lips.   
  
"Ah, I see it's all coming back to me," she said sarcastically as if just waking from a dream. Duo smiled a little. She had a sense of humor than, even when she was beaten to a pulp, bleeding in several areas, and bruised from head to toe.   
  
"Who are these idiots that came here anyway?" asked Dorothy as she glared from Heero to Duo. Natria stepped in at this answer before Relena could reply with a stinging remark.   
  
"They're AB players." The girls all turned to glare and drew knives, except for Natria. Even Hilde drew her knife. Duo looked shocked for a moment and leaned away from Hilde's knife, which he had been sitting very close to.   
  
"Anyone who is going to challenge us and keep us from making our way out of here, will be done away with," stated Catherine tensely.   
  
"Hey, we didn't come here to be butchered!" cried Duo defensively, then he turned and glanced at Heero. "Right, Heero?" Heero didn't answer and Duo rolled his eyes and brought his gaze back to the girls in front of him. Each knife was a dull one and would probably be more painful than being sliced with a sharp edge; either that or they would have a harder time cutting into him. In the end, it would be a painful death.   
  
"Come on Heero, let's get out of here," said Duo in exasperation. Catherine came forward as Duo made a move to leave and pointed the tip of her knife to his throat. Heero ignored this and continued to stare coldly at Relena, who returned with equal force. Silence filled the room and Natria shifted her feet casually.   
  
"Let them go," she said lightly. Everyone stared at her in shock. She examined her nails and looked up with cool eyes. "We'll beat them at the tournaments anyway. Besides, if Owner finds two dead bodies in here, we all might as well forget our freedom." The girls eyed Duo and Heero and realized that Natria was right. Hilde was the first to put her knife away, and then Dorothy and Catherine followed.   
  
Duo's eyes remained on the injured girl and as she tried to shift her position she winced in pain and fell back onto the not-too-soft pillow. Duo stepped over, and being that she didn't have the energy to refuse, she let him pillow her head in his lap. Catherine's jaw dropped and Dorothy smiled in revelation at the actions displayed by Duo. Relena on the other hand, only held the knife closer to Heero.   
  
"I think you ought to leave now," she whispered coolly. Heero only held her eyes with an electric gaze and shook his head, stating once again he wished to speak with her. In reality, Relena was very nervous. She had told him things that she had never told the girls and she didn't want him to start something where she would be questioned later. Her eyes darted to the other girls who were staring at her expectedly. Relena dragged her eyes back to Heero's face and realized that he was not going to give up. Being that Owner was probably tired and off drunkenly sleeping, Relena found that it would be safe if she and Heero went somewhere else to talk. Slowly she nodded and reluctantly signaled for Heero to follow her out the door. Natria watched them leave with narrowed eyes. With her eyes still on the door, she spoke to Duo.   
  
"Is your friend always this obsessive?" she said dryly. Duo grinned and Hilde found herself spellbound.   
  
"Only when he wants something." Catherine's eyes connected with Duo's.   
  
"And what does he want? Relena or an answer?" Duo shrugged.   
  
"Judging by the way he's acting, I can safely guess both." Dorothy shook her head at this response and only chuckled a little.   
  
"If that's the case, then he will have one hell of a time trying to get both." Duo smiled a little and looked down at Hilde. She smiled a little, sighing; she closed her eyes and proceeded to fall asleep. Duo was stuck. She was binding him every moment he sat there. He would have to find someway out of this mess, but he was very reluctant to do so. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Despite Relena's earlier assumption of Owner being asleep, she was very careful at every turn and shadow. She turned and glared over at Heero.   
  
"How did you manage to get in?" she demanded.   
  
"Basement window." Relena turned back to the dark hallway and stopped in front of a doorway. "I'll have to go patch it up to keep idiots like you out." She opened the door they stood before leading into an empty closet. Relena went in and felt around the sides of the shelves and pulled one out slightly and pushed against the wall. It opened just enough so someone could slip through into another room. On the other side of the door, Heero found a large area with some chairs, a candle, and a small draped window. Relena signaled for him to quickly move inside as she shut the door hastily behind him. Relena moved to a chair and put her feet up on an old crate and faced Heero. He stood next to the window staring outside for a moment. The sun was setting, he should probably get back soon, but not until this conversation was done and over with.   
  
"What do you want to know so badly to bring you here and cause another member of our team to nearly be beaten to death?" she said tensely after a few moments.   
  
"I want to know what you meant from before. What more is there to the game?" he asked bluntly. Relena's eyes narrowed.   
  
"I said that you have yet to learn that. I'm not going to tell you something that you're going to learn eventually anyway. Figure it out for yourself. I did."   
  
"What about the other girls? Have they learned whatever you're talking about yet?" Relena smiled.   
  
"They're smart, but they still need to figure out factors about this game."   
  
"You're talking in riddles."   
  
"Do you think you deserve to know it the easy way? If riddles make it harder for you, then so be it, but I'm not going to sit here and make life easier for you when you already have it easy enough."   
  
"You've made assumptions that are not true."   
  
"Really? Like what?"   
  
"That I have not lived the life of a real Lost Child." Relena's eyebrows went up to mock him.   
  
"Oh? Well, then enlighten me," she said sarcastically.   
  
"I may have lived with Hiroshi for a period of time, but I still remember what it was like before. You only forced me to remember something that night that I had forgotten a long time ago."   
  
"Yet you are still privileged. Get over it. What I said that night was out of spite and I will not take any of it back regardless of that spite."   
  
"There you go again, talking in riddles." The corner of Relena's mouth went up slightly in amusement.   
  
"If you think these are riddles, then it will take you a long time to figure out what I was saying earlier in the courts."   
  
"Why did you say it?"   
  
"What? That you were privileged? Because it's true."   
  
"Not that, why did you say there was more to the games. There's only one thing… freedom." Sighing sadly, Relena stared out the window.   
  
"That's what most players think, but in time, unless you've been there, Lost Children don't know the game until they know the extensions of what we all play for."   
  
"The whole point of the games is to win freedom and there's nothing more. I don't know what crazy idea that you have that there's more to it, but you're wrong."   
  
"If you're so set in that idea, then what are you doing here asking me what I meant?" Heero was silent for a long moment, as if debating on something. Sighing, he seemed to make a decision, but he said something completely different than what Relena thought he would say.   
  
"Do you know how many really good players there are in this city?"   
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"There are probably a total of 60 teams, 75% of which are probably not even real players."   
  
"What's your point?"   
  
"I was watching your team play and I have not found any team that plays like yours." Relena shrugged. She wouldn't tell him that they had not been training as long as other teams. They had simply clicked with one another.   
  
"We work hard and have only one common goal."   
  
"Yes, but everyone knows that all players do that, but what your team does; it's like it's on an edge and is constantly threatening to fall over, but in reality, you're in complete control at all times."   
  
"Most of the time."   
  
"What are you doing differently?" Relena smiled ironically.   
  
"Do you think I would tell you… a person from another team? You think very highly of yourself. Besides, it's always been like that. That's all I can tell you, being that we're going to see each other in the tournaments." Heero's eyes narrowed.   
  
"You really think you're going to win the tournament." He said it with such amusement that Relena shot up off of the crate and stood toe to toe with him. She was shorter than him, but that didn't seem to faze her at all.   
  
"Listen, I didn't want you to come here. I didn't ask you to stalk me! I just want you to leave us in peace and let us go about our own business!" Heero shrugged.   
  
"I don't want to leave you alone. You obviously have a better hold on this foreign thing called freedom. I'd like to hear more of what you know." Relena let out an exasperated cry and spun around towards the window.   
  
"What I know about freedom is as much as you do. Nothing. What I have been talking about is something that I cannot tell you and you have to learn for yourself. I can't tell you something when it's something felt in your soul and mind." Her gaze looked out at the fading light. She turned back. "You better go. It's getting dark. You will want to be back soon." With that, she started walking towards the door. Heero reached out and grabbed hold of her arm.   
  
"You know we're going to see each other again."   
  
"So?" She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "What does that have to do with anything?"   
  
"Let me put it this way. One of us is going to have to give. It might as well be you." Relena's eyes narrowed and she was about to let fly a punch, but she stalled and a cold smile spread over her lips.   
  
"I guess we'll just have to see, now won't we." Suddenly, she was pulled into an embrace and she found herself very close to his lips.   
  
"I don't think you got my meaning." He closed the distance and his lips took hers momentarily; he pulled away just as quickly. He released her and stepped lightly out the door. Relena was stunned to say the least. Finally, she realized that Heero had left the room without her and she quickly followed, securing the door back into place. She led the way out of the closet and crept down the hall, taking a moment to glare back at Heero.   
  
"If you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll do exactly what I threatened the first time I saw you." A small corner of his mouth went up.   
  
"You mean, the 'I'll beat you from within an inch of your life' bit? I remember it quite clearly."   
  
"That's an inch from your death and I'll do it too." With that, they made the final turn and walked into the bunkroom. Duo seemed to be having a fine time. The girls just finished laughing at a joke he had cracked. Duo looked up and waved Heero over. Hilde now sat up, leaning against the wall on top of her bunk, glowering at Duo. Something had obviously happened while Relena and Heero were away. Instead of coming in, Heero made a curt comment that it was time to go and turned to leave. Duo rolled his eyes and got up to follow him but spared a moment to wink at Hilde who glowered back at him. Then they were both gone. The other girls looked expectantly at Relena, who chose to ignore the looks. Making her way to her bunk, she lay down, placed her hands folded behind her head and stared up at the bunk on top of hers. The other girls sighed and chose to question her later when she didn't look so distracted.   
  
Something was changing in their little team and this was definitely not the time to be doing such things. Their first level tournament was coming up in a few days and they had to be ready, regardless of nosy Lost Boys. 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
The place where the tournaments were being held looked like a giant sewage drain. People crowded everywhere. Merchants in the black-market of children, roaming slaves, players of all sizes and kinds. This was to be the tournament to level out all of the players for the championships. The weaker teams would be abolished. Relena had been here once before in her life. Of course, she had not even come close to being in the championships. That was years ago and this time she was going to do it all over again. She was going to face the disappointment and the betrayed faces, this time directed at her. She looked over at the other girls and found their eyes shining with hope. Her heart tightened at the task that lay ahead of her.   
  
Their owner tied a rope around each of their wrists to hold them together and dragged them along. Relena was in the lead and watched as the different booths went by. Several were selling children into the market, bargaining in an auction. Other sold dried fruits, vegetables, jewelry, and other various goods.   
  
Relena's arm was nearly healed and her collarbone was rather tender still but it would have to do. Hilde was feeling much better, some of her bruises had not faded yet, but her lip was healed. They were all too full of anticipation of the games to even care. Finally, after weaving through the crowds and being yanked on by Owner, they made it to the huge cage with guarded gates for the slaves. Each of the girls was shoved into the world of the slaves. All of the slaves milled around in a mass. There were hundreds of them. They came from different races, genders, sizes and ages. Relena immediately moved into the crowds followed by her teammates. No one paid any attention to the new arrivals. It was going to be that way the rest of the day where slaves would arrive and leave to play.   
  
"Watch your backs girls. People will do anything to narrow down the competition." Relena watched as Cathy fingered her knife. "Keep your weapons hidden until the game."   
  
"Welcome to the world of tournaments," mumbled Dorothy.   
  
After Heero and Duo had returned to the courts and met up with their own teammates, they were questioned by Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre as in to where they went. Heero had ignored them and continued on towards Hiroshi's house. Duo shook his head and silently and followed Heero. From that day and until the tournaments, Heero no longer argued with Hiroshi, but instead concentrated fully on expanding his skills in the game. The change was so quick and so extraordinary that Hiroshi gave them even more time outside of the house to practice. That, and the fact that Heero's constant practicing inside of the house was driving Hiroshi out of his mind. No one argued to this new change in schedule.   
  
Now the tournaments had finally come and everyone was anxious to get out and finally face their opponents. But there was one group that some of them were not particularly ready to see.   
  
They arrived right after dawn and were immediately placed in the Cage. Hiroshi didn't bring them on leashes though like other owners tended to do. He trusted them just enough to stay together and not attempt to run. They were in a slave market for goodness sake. They wouldn't get far.   
  
Finally, at noon, the games began and slowly, teams were taken from the Cage. Some returned and some did not because of the fatality in the ring. The slaves new better than to pick fights with each other while they were in the Cage. By this time, the girls had noticed Heero and his team and made a point of keeping well enough away. They played their games, winning all the time, gaining money for Owner, but it all soon became a routine. Be taken out, play the game, win more money, be taken away again and placed in the Cage. This was also the schedule the boys had become accustomed to. As well as the girls they saw the other team, but didn't make more of a point in keeping their distance.   
  
Heero was shoved in followed by the other boys and they all spread out. There was a small makeshift bar where water was being served out to the slaves who returned from their fighting.   
  
Trowa settled down into a stool and sipped his water and savored the cool taste as it ran down his throat. His eyes slid shut as he ran through his plays again for the next game. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder and the moment his head turned he saw the fist as it slammed into the side of his head. He landed with a thud on the ground and looked up to find a big hulking guy with balled fists.   
  
"Do you think you're better than us?" the thick-neck growled. He took a step forward. "My team is just as good as anyone else and I'm telling you now to back off with the quick moves!" They had now attracted several on lookers. One of which was Cathy. She sat at another stool and looked into her glass and swirled her water. She took another swig of her drink and set the glass down and continued to listen.   
  
"My team is better than yours," was Trowa's simple reply. Cathy felt a small chuckle rise up, but she restrained it. Thick-neck was turning a deep purple now.   
  
"We're all the same here and you have no right to be going around claiming you're the best! You're setting the rest of us up with trouble with our owners!" Trowa shrugged.   
  
"But my team is the best." Trowa emphasized on this point and then turned around and began to slowly make his way through the crowd. He was relaxed and annoyed at the same time. He hated it when the other slaves did that. It really did get irritating, but Thick-neck did something none of the others did. He pulled out a knife and let out a growl. He bolted towards Trowa's turned back and was ready to plunge it into his victim's unsuspecting back when a knife sped by his hand, knocking his dagger from his hands. The flying knife lodged itself into a post nearby. Everyone's gaze turned to the young woman standing off to the side. Her hands were on her hips and she looked slightly amused.   
  
"It just pisses me off how people claim equality yet in the same breath take advantage of a turned back. That doesn't seem like a fair fight now does it?" The smirk on her face faded as it became serious. "Instead of facing off against a defenseless back, why don't you try a fight one on one with him?" She glanced at Trowa, whose eyebrows were raised slightly in mock incredulous.   
  
Thick-neck glared at Cathy for a moment and then glanced at Trowa. A slow smile appeared over his lips and he nodded.   
  
"This ought to be a cinch. He's helpless without his teammates." Trowa's eyes narrowed as they began to circle each other. Thick-neck made a sloppy lunge at Trowa, intending to tackle him, but Trowa lithely avoided it and when he turned to face Thick-neck once again he held a knife. His opponent seemed to hesitate, but it quickly vanished as he lunged at Trowa once again, and with even less grace than before. This time when he got up he held his own dagger from where it had landed. Trowa studied his opponent and they circled each other, looking for an opening. Quicker than the wind, Trowa jumped up and flipped over the side of Thick-neck and held the tip at the giants back. The big lug dropped and made a clumsy roll to the side where he got back up. He didn't even have time to get his footing as Trowa stalked up to him and sent him flying with a kick to his sternum. Thick-neck seemed to be short of breath as he watched Trowa come closer. He held up his hand in surrender and Trowa immediately stopped. He turned to say something to Cathy, but was suddenly tackled by the mass of muscle. Trowa looked up at the giant and tried to push him away by placing his hand against his head and as the giant's head was leaning back, Trowa leaned back as well and then sent his forehead crashing into Thick-necks nose. He fell back with a thud, holding his bloodied air passage. He pulled his hand away from his massacred nose and stared at the blood and suddenly lost control of his temper and flew at Trowa with outstretched fingers, flexing to strangle him. Trowa moved quickly as he swept the other's legs out from under him and made quick slash at the guy's legs and arms. There were cuts up and down his limbs now and Thick-neck fell flat on the floor, not getting up.   
  
Trowa stared down at him for a moment, breathing hard. Cathy walked over to the post where her knife was lodged and pulled it out. She examined the tip that she had sharpened and saw that it was slightly dulled. She cursed and made to leave to get it sharpened for the next game, but Trowa caught up to her.   
  
"You would do well to let me pick my own fights from now on," he growled at her. Cathy's eyebrows raised and she gave him her full attention.   
  
"I saved your life, pal, so I suggest you back off," she said with just as much emotion.   
  
"I have no debt to you." Cathy's body stiffened and her fists clenched and she was about ready to beat that arrogant face, but thought against it not giving him the satisfaction.   
  
"Fine, it's not like I wanted anything from you." She eyed his body up and down.   
  
"Well, nothing you would give." She turned to go but an arm reached out and grabbed her. She was spun around and pulled hard against an unyielding chest. She looked up into green eyes and found they were hard. Her heart quickened its pace.   
  
"Is that what you want in return, or are you just acting like a little girl playing with fire." He tightened his grasp on her and wrapped another arm around her waist. She looked shocked for a moment. Then her eyes smoldered with his, filled with outrage.   
  
"My mistake. I was wrong. You have absolutely nothing I could possibly want," she whispered vehemently. Trowa's hand splayed on her lower back.   
  
"Are you so sure of that? You certainly seemed rather willing before." Cathy let out a low laugh, one that rippled through Trowa and almost made him shudder. His gaze intensified.   
  
The moment was broken when the speaker blared out a number.   
  
"Team number 135; you are to report at the gate at once. Team number 135." Cathy pulled away quickly and turned to leave.   
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Trowa grabbed her again, but she quickly spun away from his grasp and smiled mischievously.   
  
"They just called me up. Gotta go." She waved over her shoulder and walked away nonchalantly. She felt his strong gaze on her back and she smiled slightly, meeting the others at the gate moments later.   
  
Duo sat down on a stool with a thud and let out an exhausted breath. He let his head drop with a thump on the table. He was absolutely drained of energy. They had just finished their second to last game and had one more to go. He didn't know if he even wanted to go back out there. All of them were blood-thirsty. Every single person out there watching the slaves struggle to stay alive.   
  
Someone absently shoved a glass of water over to him and he mumbled a thank you as he picked it up to swallow its contents.   
  
"Tough game?" came a feminine voice. The glass froze half way to his mouth and his gaze wandered over to the person sitting next to him. She was not looking up; she was concentrating on something across the room. It looked like a brawl involving a large man with a very thick neck.   
  
"Hilde?" came his startled gasp. Her gaze snapped over to Duo and her eyes widened in shock.   
  
"Duo?" She quickly shot up as if to leave, but his hand snaked out to stop her from leaving.   
  
"What? I say one word to you and you up and leave!"   
  
"Yeah, considering I have every reason in the world to get away from you!"   
  
"Why? What reasons are those?"   
  
"You… you…. Embarrassed me in front of my friends!"   
  
"How did I do that?"   
  
"You… winked at me!" Duo let out an audible gasp.   
  
"That's it! That's why you want to get away from me? For the sake that I winked at you?" He looked almost outraged and this made Hilde even more frustrated. She had never had to deal people of the opposite gender and knew nothing of how to deal with them.   
  
"Look, it'll be much easier if you stay out of my way and I stay out of yours," she grumbled. Duo frowned.   
  
"I think you're being very unreasonable."   
  
"bI'm/b being unreasonable! Why do you even insist on being around me? You're turning into Heero!"   
  
"Hey, he may be my friend, but I would rather be compared to a gorilla than to Heero Yuy." Hilde resisted the urge to smile.   
  
"Fine, just stay out of my way. It'll be easier on the both of us."   
  
"What? You're afraid I'm going to fall for you and then sweep you off your feet to carry you into the sunset?" This time she did let herself smile.   
  
"Well, if we're lucky, that won't ever happen right?" His eyes darkened as he stared at her.   
  
"I don't know." Hilde paused for a moment and then let out an alarmed gasp.   
  
"That's it, maybe we should just hate each other than." Duo was about to say something, but was interrupted when the announcer spoke on the system.   
  
"Team number 135; you are to report at the gate at once. Team number 135." Hilde shot up out of her seat and made her way towards the gate. Duo ran to catch up.   
  
"Did you not hear one word I said?" she growled as she continued on towards the exit.   
  
"Nope, not a word." Hilde stopped and smiled in astonishment and wonder, staring at Duo.   
  
"You are absolutely the most obnoxious man I have ever met!" she said in total wonder.   
  
"I'll take that as a compliment then." She shook her head and left him standing there. After several long moments of staring after her, he clapped his hands together as if to snap himself out of his trance and nearly jumped around to head back towards his seat. His gaze lingered for another moment on the gate and then he saw Trowa. He sat staring into his glass of water and Duo quickly went to join his friend. If he couldn't annoy his new interest, then he can at least annoy a good friend!   
  
Quatre was deep within the Cage, out of sight of the gate and he looked around as slaves cheered their teammates on. Quatre walked up to the fight ring. Fight rings were located in almost any Cage of the slave's imprisonment. The owners did not know of these. This was another way of gaining money and extending one's skills in the arts of fighting for when the games came around. Teammates would volunteer to fight each other for the small change that would add to their money to buy their freedom. At the moment, the crowd was roaring and cheering on their favorite competitor. Quatre came closer and saw who was standing in the ring. There were two young women. One was a young red head that obviously was well prepared for this fight, but as his gaze shifted over to the other young woman, he found that the blond was well formed and skilled for this combating. He watched as the redhead blocked off a blow and swung at the blond. Her hair was pulled into a tight knot, shining gold in the little light they had. Both jabbed and punched and lashed out with their knives and any other weapon available. It seemed that neither was going to give when finally everything began to move in favor of the redhead. The blonde's eyes narrowed and she let loose a mirage of blows that were unstoppable. The redhead went down with a bloody lip and a bruised jaw. The speed and skill was equal, but the grace was incomparable. The young blond won this fight. Quatre watched as she jumped down from her place in the ring to collect the meager bit of money owed her. She was counting it as she walked out of the crowd, and nearly ran into Quatre. She looked up startled for a moment and mumbled a quick apology and moved to walk by, but Quatre stopped her.   
  
"You're a great fighter." She hesitated and glanced over her shoulder.   
  
"Thank you," she mumbled and continued. Quatre strode up beside her and accompanied her through the crowds.   
  
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked after she had finished counting her money and putting it safely away.   
  
"No, well… there is one thing." Quatre weaved around a slave walking between them and continued to speak. "You look really familiar to me." She seemed to stiffen her back.   
  
"I don't see how. This is the first time I've been here," she lied. Quatre looked confused.   
  
"But the way you fought back there…"   
  
"It was just luck." Now he knew she was hiding something. "Look." She stopped and faced him.   
  
"If you want something, just ask, but I can't promise you anything."   
  
"I… I…"   
  
"That's what I thought. If you'll excuse me."   
  
"Wait. Do you want to go get something to drink?" She looked confused for a moment.   
  
"Why would I want to do that?" Quatre shrugged and smiled. It was rather dazzling to see.   
  
"Because it would be pleasurable if a fighter such as yourself were to join me." She smiled.   
  
"Now you're resorting to flattery. All right. Just lead the way."   
  
"My name is Quatre Winner."   
  
"Dorothy Catalonia. I don't know yet if I should say it's a pleasure."   
  
"Well, let's see if we can change that."   
  
The games ended and the girls were gathered and once again tied up by their wrists. The boys watched carefully as the girls were yanked, nearly falling on top of each other as Owner made off with his prizes. He was smiling proudly as others looked on with envy. He certainly had a lucky team going. They must have been bringing thousands of dollars a game. Several merchants offered to buy one of the girls. Owner stopped just to humor them. The girls were none too happy about his little tricks. They stood outside of the gate as merchants came forward and examined their teeth and eyes, as if a horse put up for sale. Owner smiled proudly and waved an arm over his pretties.   
  
"How much would any of you offer for these fine specimens hmm?" One merchant walked up to Cathy and grabbed her jaw none too nicely and yanked it open, then stuck a dirty finger into her mouth to examine her. She quickly bit down, but the merchant retrieved his hand just in time. Owner saw this and immediately made his way over to her and gave her a good head-knocker. She saw stars for a moment, and then managed to recover her balance. A bit of blood spilled from the corner of her lip.   
  
Trowa watched this exchange and felt his hands clench of their own free will. He slowly made his way towards the opening of the gate, as if he had a purpose. As he drew closer Hiroshi shot out and grabbed his arm, steering him away immediately.   
  
"Where have you been? Wait, don't answer that. Where are the others? We need to get out of here before the tunnels are all congested.   
  
Trowa looked over his shoulder and found that the girls were being dragged away once again. Out of his sight. 


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Over the next week the boys were given the luxury of resting up for the next set of tournaments. The girls, on the other hand, were ordered to practice harder. Evidently, they were lagging in their skills and almost lost several times and if it were to happen once more time they would all be whipped hide less.   
  
Of course, the girls would use some of their time in practicing to rest outside of the Rat House. On the courts was sufficient enough for sleeping. It wasn't until Wufei came walking by one day to find them completely exhausted and practically passed out on the ground of the courts. All of them were pretty much asleep. He quietly made his way over to one of the sleeping forms and stared down at her. Finally, he knelt down next to her and nudged her in the shoulder, but she did not respond. It was then that a group of girls came walking up the sidewalk. They were all giggling amongst themselves and whispering. They were from that all-girls high school further up the road. Wufei knew that must have been the same school these Lost Girls attended.   
  
Wufei did not move as they came closer. One of the girls spotted him and fluttered her eyelashes at him flirtatiously and tried to give him a smile. It quickly faded when Wufei expressed no interest in her. She sniffed, but the other girls had noticed him as well at this point. They walked up a little ways, but stayed an acceptable distance away from the other sleeping girls, leaning up on fences and benches. Natria lay on her side leaning her back against the fence.   
  
"Well, hello there," said one with a giggle. Wufei killed the urge to roll his eyes. "My name is Felicity. What's yours?" He did not respond.   
  
"My, aren't we talkative. Would you like to join us for a shake down at the corner? We would love your company." Still no response.   
  
"You know, it's hard to have a conversation with you if you're on that side of the fence." For emphasis, she kicked Natria's back through the barrier. Natria did not move. Wufei felt a little bit of heat creep up his neck at the girl's actions.   
  
"Besides, I don't think you'd want to hang around these girls. I heard they're orphans. No one wants to hang out with an orphan."   
  
"And no one wants to hang out with a snobbish brat like you Felicity," said Natria as she sat up and looked very much awake. "Are you messing with my guy here?" Felicity's eyes widened in shock then faded into disgust.   
  
"I find it rather hard to believe that a little rat like you could possibly find someone for yourself. Especially quite a good looker. Come on, why don't you join us for that shake. It's on me," she said to Wufei once again. Natria sat up, one knee up and an elbow resting on it as she placed an arm around Wufei's shoulders, giving a message of possessiveness.   
  
"I do believe that you have been looking for a beating for quite some time now Felicity. Maybe it's payday?" Felicity snickered.   
  
"Anyone ever tell you you're a bitch, Natria?" Natria smiled darkly.   
  
"Oh yes, several times. They don't talk much anymore. Especially after I scarred up their faces a bit. Probably don't want to see any of that perfect skin marred now do we?" Felicity glanced over at her friends and gave a nervous scoff.   
  
"You can't do anything to me. Especially in front of that gorgeous guy there." Wufei felt Natria's grip tighten on him, but she never faltered. She turned and placed an endearing kiss on Wufei's lips, shocking him as she smiled falsely.   
  
"You wouldn't mind if I had a little fun, would you, baby?" her voice held a hidden poison.   
  
"Uh… of course not," he stuttered and their gazes turned back to Felicity who was backing up a step.   
  
"Maybe I should wake the others and we can all have a little carving party." Right on cue, Hilde, Relena, Cathy, and Dorothy sat up and gave the other girls on the other side of the fence smug looks.   
  
"I think that would be an excellent idea," said Relena with a mischievous smile. The girls backed up another step.   
  
"You wouldn't dare," cried one of the girls on the other side of the fence. Hilde was up before anyone could say anything and vaulting over the fence. She landed in front of the girl with an evil grin on her face. She was spinning a knife in her hand.   
  
"Would you like to bet on that? You owe me five bucks every cut I give you." The girl ran in terror as the other girls followed. Felicity hesitated, but when Hilde turned her attentions to her she too ran.   
  
She stopped when she was a safe distance away.   
  
"I'm going to get you one of these days Natria!" she yelled.   
  
"Yeah? Well I think you'll be dragging your entrails behind you before you ever get to me!" Felicity ran.   
  
All of the girls dropped their predator attitudes and returned to their exhausted state. Hilde made a halfhearted attempt in climbing over the fence, but found she didn't want to waste the energy so she made a short walk of going around it instead.   
  
Natria turned to look at Wufei and quickly put distance between the two of them. Wufei was rather shocked at her sudden change in manner towards him.   
  
"So, what do you want, Wufei?" she asked with a hard voice.   
  
"Your name is Natria," he said. She rolled her eyes.   
  
"Yeah, so? Big deal!"   
  
"Consider me not a stranger at this point." She grumbled something and stood up and dusted her bottom off. The other girls followed suit and prepared to play again. Wufei got up and asked if he could even out the five-person team. The girls glanced at one another and finally agreed. Wufei was on Dorothy and Relena's team and Natria, Cathy, and Hilde were on the other. The game began and Wufei quickly found out that these girls held nothing back. They were brutal, even to each other. Wufei was not spared either. The air was filled with a tenseness that seemed to want to smother him. It was the same air that he felt when he was on the court in the tournaments. Never while he was practicing with the others though. That must have been why the girls were so good. They were used to the desperation, the feeling of near annihilation. They incorporated these into their moves. Doing things that weren't expected. Wufei seemed nearly overwhelmed by it. He hadn't expected such a charge of feelings in the air. This was their turf and anyone who stepped on it would get quite a jolt. Due to his lack of concentration, Natria, Hilde, and Cathy scored several points right away. Relena and Dorothy sent him annoyed looks. All right, time to pull yourself together Wufei. Show 'em what you can do.   
  
The game continued and he too began to pull up some of his own moves he used on the courts. This was surprising to the girls on the other team, swaying the winning streak on the other side.   
  
By the time the game was finished they were all out of breath and panting on the ground. Wufei was just recovering from his ordeal, which was the only word that would come close to describe what he had just gone through, when he saw his teammates walking up from down the block. He looked around frantically, looking for a way out of this situation and realized that was not an option. Finally, Heero stopped on the other side of the fence, hands in his pockets and giving him a curious look. Trowa, Duo, and Quatre were all giving him peculiar looks as well.   
  
"Wufei! Hey man, what are you doing here?" asked Duo with a strange smile. It was sly and held a hidden amusement. His sly attitude reminded Wufei that his friend needed a good butt whooping and was now due for one.   
  
"I, uhm, I was just watching the girls practice, that's all."   
  
"Might as well introduce us to your friends then," said Trowa with narrowed eyes centered on Cathy. One of her elegant eyebrows rose up in amusement and she smiled slightly and stepped forward.   
  
"We are the future championship winners. My name is Catherine Bloom. If you have to call me anything, call me Cathy. That over there is Natria de Lowen, Relena Peacecraft, Dorothy Catalonia, and that devil there is Hilde Scheibeiker." Each of the girls bobbed her head slightly or just glared at Cathy. They normally did not tell many people who they were and Cathy certainly could have left out that beginning phrase of the future championship winners. They didn't need any more trouble than specified. The guys stood there, finally realizing that they were going to learn these players' names and decided to give theirs in return.   
  
"Heero Yuy." Heero stepped forward and looked over to his teammates.   
  
"Wufei Chang."   
  
"Quatre Winner."   
  
"Duo Maxwell, don't wear the name out!" They all rolled their eyes. "What?"   
  
"Trowa Barton."   
  
"Well, this was all nice and dandy, but I think that the girls and I have to be leaving now. We don't want to be blate/b. We just might get into a little trouble," said Relena with emphasis on late. The girls took the cue and all turned to gather up their items.   
  
"We'll see you at the games," said Heero. The girls ignored him and kept on going. Heero stared after them, but was finally shaken from his trance when Trowa walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. They slowly headed back down the block from where they came from. Heero threw another glance over his shoulder and went to follow. 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
It was going to be a seven-hour flight to the mountains where the next level of tournaments was to be held. The altitude made it difficult to function and breathe, so Owner prepared the girls by putting them in an airtight room where he would only let them out when they were barely conscious. This was a method used by many owners and unfortunately the girls' owner was one of them. As they were being loaded onto the plane, they were given a new set of clothing, regular jeans and nice tops. They were to be a group of girls going on a trip to the mountains, but anyone who knew anything about the tournaments, knew it was a rouse to transfer slaves to the games. They were to smile and giggle as any other girls did and look very excited to go. All the girls could do was cooperate and do as they were told. Owner was to be their 'chaperone'. The flight was long and strenuous. Natria absolutely, beyond a doubt, hated being someone she wasn't… happy. Owner would send her threatening glares whenever Natria would not return the friendly smiles from one of the stewardesses. She would, in the end, relent and smile kindly back and accept the drinks offered, but not drink. It would ruin her diet for the games, as what Owner would say.   
  
It wasn't until late in the afternoon when the team and Owner arrived at a small lodge in the mountains. It looked innocent enough. More like a nice little getaway for couples just married or vacationing spot for skiing in the mountains. What the vacationers didn't realize was that underneath this sanctuary for the perfect getaway was a terrible setting for the games of the blood sports, right below.   
  
Owner stepped in, carrying his large bag, while the girls followed talking among themselves, giggling and laughing about some made up subject. He glared at them disapprovingly to silence them immediately. They stood, as if they were bored next to the counter as Owner talked momentarily with the clerk at the counter. The polite, inviting smile disappeared from his face and turned to a grim disposition. He threw glances at the girls and then returned his attention back to Owner. After a few more moments, he reached over, nodding, and picked up the phone, and yet another conversation was introduced as he mumbled something to the person on the receiving end. Finally, after all was said and done, he hung up the phone, nodded to Owner, and the girls were told to go to the elevators. Once they were inside, Owner pushed a button, indicating the basement. A small panel opened up, revealing a small keypad. He typed in 135 for the team and they immediately were sent down into the depths of the mountain. The little yellow light behind those numbers over the door stopped at the letter B, indicating the basement, but the elevator continued it's decent. All of the girls stood silently with their heads bowed. Finally, they came to a stop and the doors of the elevator opened. There was a long tunnel that lay before them now. A stream of overhead lamps lit the way through the passages. Owner shoved the girls out of the elevator and proceeded to order them to take off their coats, revealing their regular playing clothes for the game. After this was done, they stuffed their jackets into his large bag and were tied together once again with rope. Cathy was trying very hard not to let her teeth chatter. She noticed that Hilde had goose bumps running up and down her arms and bare legs. It wouldn't last long, she reminded herself. They would be playing soon and that would keep them warm enough.   
  
The tunnel was long and they must have walked a good twenty minutes before reaching the end. On the other side was an ice cavern filled with the same scene that was at the 1st Level Tournaments. Merchants, buying and selling slaves and goods. Slaves were being taken to the make shift Cage; its bars were made of thick ice, impenetrable. Hilde stared on at the other slaves that were wearing coats and warm clothing. Her eyes nearly teared in jealousy. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.   
  
They reached the entrance of the Ice Cage and were immediately thrown in. Even the guards there had to give pitying looks at the girls that wore nothing warm. Even the rookies wore warm clothing. Their uniforms had holes and were nearly in rags. After Owner left, the girls agreed to spread out and do some running around to warm themselves back up. They split up soon after.   
  
Cathy was jogging at a steady pace, slaves turned to stare at her curiously for a few moments, but soon realized why she was doing so and turned back to what they were doing. Small puffs of steam came from her mouth as she tried to warm up her limbs. Her fingers were going numb, as were her toes. Giving a curse, she sped up her pace. Suddenly, she found that someone was running along side her and she turned to see who was following her at this ungodly speed. What she found made her itch to stop and smack him straight across the face. Trowa.   
  
"What do you want?" she grumbled between chattering teeth.   
  
"Just wondering why you're not wearing your coat. It would be much easier for you to get warm that way instead of this." Cathy glared at him for a moment, but when she nearly tripped over someone, she returned her gaze back in front of her.   
  
"I decided this would probably get me ready for the games today. Better to be ready than frozen." Trowa looked skeptical so she quickly tried to change the subject.   
  
"Look, if you don't have anything else to do other than bother the hell out of me, go find someone else to annoy."   
  
"You sound like you're talking to one of my friends. I wasn't looking to annoy you, just wondering why you couldn't just ask someone to lend you a coat, being that you don't have one." That made Cathy stop, her breaths coming quickly with the exertion of her run.   
  
"First of all, what I do and what I want is none of your concern. Second, I don't need charity, especially not from another slave, and third, I would rather that I didn't have to deal with you today." A corner of Trowa's mouth twitched in amusement and Cathy saw it. Letting out an exasperated cry she spun back around and began to stalk off. Unfortunately, Trowa followed her. Instead of responding, she acted as if he wasn't there. That was fine with him. It was better if she wasn't yelling at him.   
  
Hilde had found another way of keeping herself warm, but at this point, she had wished she had picked a different method. Another brilliant idea hatched by Hilde going haywire. She had ignorantly decided to get into the fight ring and unexpectedly; she realized that the people fighting in the ring were actually good at what they did. She grit her teeth as a small trickle of blood fell from a bloodied nose. The fist came flying again, landing straight in the eye. She fell back as the other woman smiled in the victory. Hilde wasn't about to let this woman win. That money was for her and the other girls and not to mention her pride would not permit it as well. Hilde shot forward with the speed of a tigress and raised her fists for a blow. Suddenly, the other woman was not there anymore and Hilde realized she had flipped back behind her. Letting out a growl, Hilde spun and tried to catch the woman in the head with a roundhouse. Her foot was grabbed and she was flipped onto her back. She had a moment to register that a foot was flying towards her stomach and she quickly rolled aside. Just as she recovered her footing she turned to face the other slave and once again was caught in the side of the head by a foot. She went flying and hit a post in the barrier. She sat there stunned for a moment when warm breath whispered into her ear and made her shiver.   
  
"You do know you can use weapons in the ring, don't you?" Hilde turned with wide eyes to find Duo grinning at her.   
  
"Duo!" His amusement faded as he saw the slave stalking towards Hilde. Hilde turned quickly to stare at what he saw and used her reflexes to vault her out of the vulnerable position. Weapons huh? Well that would have made a difference. This was her first time in the ring and she was not going to lose. Especially if they could use weapons. Smiling with a bit of cynicism, Hilde pulled out her knife. She wasn't much with the ways of hand-to-hand combat, but she felt right at home with sharp objects.   
  
"Bring it on," hissed the other slave.   
  
"Your wish is my command," laughed Hilde. She shot forward, warming to the feeling of the knife in her hand. Her grip was pixie light and the speed of which her arm moved was incredible. It was as if the knife jumped to life in her hands and her movements became more confident with every blow. Everyone stood astounded as Hilde proceeded to drive her opponent literally out of the ring. Finally, the fight was finished with a roundhouse to the slave's head and she was sent flying out of the ring. A roar of approval rang through the slaves and Hilde jumped down, suddenly surrounded with hands full of money. She laughed joyously as she collected it. A moan from behind her spun her around and saw the slave she had beaten bloodied and bruised. She was going to live, but she would not be playing in any of the games today. Hilde winced at the thought of what she had brought upon this slave. She was going to step forward to offer some help, but Duo reached out to stop her before she could even move. She spun on him, but he dodged her blow and smiled.   
  
"You know, you really need to control that temper of yours."   
  
"Leave me alone!"   
  
"Hey, listen; I'm the one who got you outta that jam back there."   
  
"I don't believe this. Go away." She began her original course, but Duo grabbed her again, his face no longer amused.   
  
"Every person that steps into the ring knows that they're risking their freedom." He nodded towards the recovering slave. "She lost it, don't lose yours as well." Hilde bit her lip and threw glances at the other slave. Duo made her decision by steering her away from the defeated opponent.   
  
"What were you doing in there anyway?"   
  
"I was trying to keep warm. I guess I'll know better next time." It was then that Duo finally realized why the fight had attracted his attention in the first place. One of the combatants was wearing only a thin uniform and shorts. He ran his eyes over her and saw already her teeth were chattering and her lips were turning blue. He, on the other hand, wore a warm coat with mittens and long pants that he would get a chance to change out of once his game came up.   
  
Seeing he was scrutinizing her she quickened her steps, as if to get away from him. He reached out and began to drag her over to the far side of the slave confinements, next to a wall. She protested and dug her heals in all the way, but Duo ignored her. Finally, he forced her to sit down and he joined her, leaning against the wall. Her brows were knit together in frustration. Still pretending he didn't notice this, he pulled off his jacket and wrapped it over the front of her. He was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, but he did not even stop to shiver as he then pulled Hilde, still protesting, onto his lap, so both were covered. Hilde was outraged.   
  
"What you think you're doing? Let me go this instant! I mean it, if you don't let go I'll…"   
  
"Hilde, shut up and just let me be nice to you for once." Hilde grumbled and found that there was no point in arguing. So, instead of complaining more, she tucked her legs up close to her chest under the jacket. After a few moments, Duo told her to lean her head on his shoulder so both of them could keep warm. Rolling her eyes, she did as she was told. They sat there feeding on their shared warmth, away from the cold.   
  
Natria sat at a make shift table, which was actually a large crate, drinking down some much needed water. The only indication that she was freezing to death was her lips were running the line of becoming purple. The water in her glass was chunky almost, due to the cold inside. She felt as if her insides were becoming ice themselves. Sighing, she took another sip of her water. Suddenly, someone sat down next to her and a thick sweatshirt was placed in front of her. She looked over to find Wufei eyeing her grimly. She acted as if he was just an inconvenience. Her attention returned to examining her water.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked as she took another sip.   
  
"I took the liberties of lending you my extra sweatshirt," he said with annoyance. He too wore a thick jacket and long pants, as Duo did. Natria looked over the sweatshirt for a moment, it looked harmless enough. For a moment, Wufei thought she would refuse, but finally, she picked it up and slipped it on. It was too big for her, but she obviously didn't seem to mind. Natria returned to her glass of water, not saying anything. Wufei wasn't exactly expecting anything in return, although a simple thank you would have been nice. Wufei cleared his throat once or twice and finally made to break the silence between them.   
  
"Why did your owner not allow you to wear your jackets?"   
  
"He thinks we'll warm ourselves up by doing something physical, like running or picking fights with other slaves." She smiled wryly. "Some of us resorted to that; I decided I didn't want to." Wufei frowned at her.   
  
"That's kind of stupid, if you ask me."   
  
"I wasn't asking you." Wufei lifted his eyebrows at the snapped comment. It was then that someone stepped forward and glared at Natria's sweatshirt.   
  
"Hey, that looks like my sweatshirt," he said in an accusing manner. Wufei stood up, being bigger than the other slave. His glare alone made the slave back up. He laughed nervously. "Maybe I was wrong. Sorry, my mistake." Wufei sat back down as the other slave ran away. Natria watched this exchange and broke up into laughter.   
  
"Liberties of lending your bextra/b sweatshirt huh?" Then she broke up into another fit of laughs and giggles. Wufei smiled slightly as he let her laughter roll over him, warming him to the bone.   
  
Dorothy stood near the gate, watching as the other slaves were brought in. Her eyes were looking for someone, but her mind was wandering to someone else. He had blue eyes and blond hair and a kind smile. They had sat down for several hours, waiting to go out and play their games and had managed to keep up a very pleasant conversation, despite they were slaves and there wasn't much to talk about. She found out a lot about him and remembering him sitting before her, showing her humility. It made her heart soften.   
  
She was suddenly snapped from her thoughts as the gate was flung open to the Ice Cage and a young woman, probably a few years older than herself was shoved with enough force to launch her onto her side. She wore thick and warm clothing, but the strange thing about her was that she did not walk in with a team. Her hair was cut short and was so dark that it was almost purple and her eyes were a violet hue. Those orbs of violet were scanning the crowds carefully as she got up and shot a vehement look over her shoulder at the guard who had shoved her in. Her owner was glaring at the guard as well and began a lecture on how he wanted his slave in the best of shape for the games and idiotic guards like him were preventing that. The guard looked thoroughly sheepish after this encounter. The young woman's owner was probably a little older than herself, but no one else would have been able to tell one way or another due to the fact that no one would have cared. He had long blond hair, cut slightly under his shoulders. His eyes were a piercing icy blue. Dorothy smiled slightly as Lucrezia unknowingly walked right past her. Dorothy leapt out with the sightless speed. Her arm went around Lucrezia's neck, putting her in a lock. Her lips came very close to Lucrezia's ear. Her face was shocked for a moment and then narrowed in annoyance.   
  
"I do believe that you must have made a mistake up at the desk, Lieutenant." Dorothy emphasized the last name given to Lucrezia.   
  
"It couldn't be helped. We tried to get you a different placing," she growled back, wrenching out of Dorothy's grasp. Her eyes examined the other woman.   
  
"I signed in the conditions that I was not to be placed back into a dirty outhouse with an abusive owner, especially one who drank. It seems that I didn't get any of those. I'm about ready to call back out of this charade." Lucrezia glared at Dorothy.   
  
"Despite you didn't get your preferences…"   
  
"Preferences?! I was stuck in a goddamn hell hole!" Lucrezia ignored the interruption.   
  
"You were placed in a deal and contract none the less. Come on Dorothy. You were here before, you can finish it again." Dorothy let out a growl and began to pace wildly. She finally stopped and pointed accursedly at Lucrezia.   
  
"You guaranteed a safe placement! I didn't come back here to be smacked around again and watch others in the same situation."   
  
"And I told you it couldn't be helped! All you can do now is finish this. It'll be done and you can go home." Dorothy sighed in exasperation and finally nodded, looking away.   
  
"Fine, but I swear, this is going to the chairman and it's not going to be slipping by unnoticed. I'll finish it, but only because I can't let the girls down." Lucrezia smiled. "So, I see that Zechs stood as your stand-in partner." Lucrezia's smile disappeared and replaced by a small nervous laugh.   
  
"Uh, yeah, that was the other thing I needed to talk to you about." Dorothy was immediately suspicious.   
  
"Really? And what may that be?"   
  
"Well, you've been transferred to a special unit. Zechs is taking over the vacant position." Her partner's eyes went wide.   
  
"What? If you're joking I swear I'll strangle you! What do you mean special unit?"   
  
"I mean, the special unit wanted an extra stand in for more of these cases and…"   
  
"No, uh uh, I agreed to this one case, but I didn't say that…"   
  
"They need more people like you up there. Even if it is painful for you…"   
  
"No! Forget it! I'm not doing it! This entire thing is going to blow up in our faces and you know it. I'm not going to do this the rest of the time when all the damn paperwork gets screwed up so I get stuck in a death trap!"   
  
"Dorothy, please, lower your voice. You're…"   
  
"I don't give a flying rat's ass about how loud my voice is. You know I'm not going back to this!"   
  
"Dorothy…"   
  
"No! Lucrezia, I'm not doing it!" With that Dorothy spun around and stalked off into the stunned crowd, leaving a flushed ex-partner. Dorothy let out a curse, dragging her slim fingers through her hair. She was so upset and infuriated that she no longer felt the cold. Finally, she stopped her rampage and took a deep breath, covering her face with her hands, collecting her thoughts. Her thoughts were almost in order again when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder and they fell apart in an instant. Her eyes were fused with Quatre Winner's. Her breath caught in her throat and she realized what she saw in his eyes was concern and worry… for her. She slapped on a smile and tried to look as if she wasn't upset.   
  
"Hey, Winner, what can I do for you?" she asked with uncharacteristic cheer. He concern turned into a frown. He was onto her.   
  
"You looked really upset. Who was it that you were talking to back there?" He nodded his head over his shoulder in the direction from which she had come.   
  
"Oh, that. I… I was just discussing the games with her. She, uh, tried to bribe me into losing the next game." An incredulous eyebrow went up immediately.   
  
"It looked like you knew her though, from before." Dorothy tried to shrug casually.   
  
"I met her once before."   
  
"But…"   
  
"Do you want to get something to drink?"   
  
"You're avoiding the subject. It looked like you two were talking about something serious. Is something wrong?"   
  
"Everything is fine."   
  
"Dorothy…" She rolled her eyes and used the only method she knew how to make him quiet. She grabbed him around the neck and brought their lips together. She stood there as he was frozen in shock. She relaxed as he finally gave up his earlier escapade and found something else more interesting to deal with.   
  
Relena had found him quickly. It was quite easy, for she found she had a knack with Heero Yuy. It was as if he held a magnet that was pulling her whenever they were in the same general area together. He stood watching the fight ring, but with little interest. There really was not much else the slaves could do. Relena smiled slightly as she made her way up to his side. She had been thinking almost constantly, through the day, through practice, through any beatings, through the night. It was beginning to get to her. She decided if it really affected her this much, she has to stop and see what was making her hesitate. Maybe it deserved a second look after all, what he had suggested the last time they were alone. She hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed her hand on his arm. He spun around as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on him. His eyes were slightly shocked to find her there, but he quickly cooled over.   
  
"Hello," he said.   
  
"Hello, Heero."   
  
"Are you here for the fight ring?" Relena shrugged, not looking interested.   
  
"No, I could win in there, but what's the point? I'm going to be getting my freedom soon anyway."   
  
"Just like watching them?"   
  
"Not really, I saw you standing here and decided I needed to talk to you." His eyes were alert and cautious now.   
  
"What is it that you need to talk to me about?"   
  
"About what you said before, about one of us giving way. I guess you're right. It might as well be me." His jaw hung open for a long moment, trying to close it or form words, he wasn't sure himself. She stood there, almost… almost shyly.   
  
"Relena…" That was the only word he could form for a long moment. Instead of waiting for the words that weren't to come, Relena stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his midsection and rested her head on his shoulder. He was so warm and she felt so very cold, her limbs were beginning to feel the icy fingers in the air. As she felt Heero's arms come around her, she allowed herself to slip into that dark oblivion. 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Heero quickly tightened his grasp as Relena fainted in his arms. Before she could hit the ground he reached down and swept her up into his arms. She was nearly frozen in her shorts and t-shirt. He tested her warmth by lightly placing his lips against her forehead. She was freezing! He quickly made his way to the far side of the Ice Cage. He saw Duo sitting against the wall and his mind was spinning with the possibilities when he also saw Hilde in his lap, covered by his jacket. Ignoring these irrelevant thoughts, he shot forward and knelt next to the couple. Hilde's eyes widened at the sight of her friend.   
  
"What did you do to her?" she cried in outrage and leaped from Duo's arms and warmth. She shivered lightly, but was immediately by Relena's side.   
  
"Not what I did, but what your owner failed to do?" Hilde frowned and placed a gentle hand at her friend's cheek.   
  
"Relena? Relena, wake up. Come on." Relena's eyes fluttered for a moment, her blue lips working slowly at first, then finally, she croaked out some words.   
  
"Water…" Hilde shot a look over her shoulder at Duo and he ran to get some. Before he left Hilde grabbed his coat that he had picked up and laid it over her friend's shivering frame. She sat down, resting her friend's head on her lap. Heero lay out next to Relena and pulled her close to his own body, trying to give her heat. He quickly removed his own coat and placed the second layer over her legs. By now others were paying attention to the commotion over by the wall. A few gathered and asked how she was doing and if she was going to make it. What happened to her coat and warmer clothing? Did one of the other slaves steal them? They would go get the slave and make them give it back! It was the owner? Several tongues made ticking noises against their teeth and knelt down to give a sparing pat on Relena's shoulder, one or two even lent her their jackets, for they wore sweatshirts underneath them and could spare them to her. One brought forth a blanket and placed it over Heero and Relena. Her eyes were tearing up at this point.   
  
"They can't be kind to me," she whispered into the layers of warmth as she began to feel her legs and arms once again. It was painful, but not as painful as to what these people were doing to her. Heero was keeping her warm, giving her warmth. Then the tears fell free. Heero heard her mumbling and placed a small kiss on the back of her neck and she shivered.   
  
"They want to be kind to you," he whispered into her cold ears.   
  
"But, we're all against each other in this, don't they understand?"   
  
"Isn't this what you were talking about that day? How all of us had to stay together?" She shook her head.   
  
"No, it wasn't. They don't understand. Their kindness is being wasted on me. They don't understand. These efforts are not for me, it's for others. They have to learn, like I did. They can't…" Her tears fell in earnest and everyone, seeing the tears thought they were of gratitude, backed off, smiling, realizing they had helped Relena, and possibly saving her life.   
  
At this time, Duo returned with the water and was confused when Hilde backed him up, moving him away from the two on the floor.   
  
"She'll be fine. She just needs some time." Duo looked down at Hilde with worried eyes.   
  
"She has some extra layers over there. You could borrow some yourself." She smiled a little.   
  
"I don't know, I kind of liked the first arrangement." A grin spread over his handsome features.   
  
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Let's see if we can't get you warm again."   
  
"Team 135… Team 135 go to the gate at once. Team 135," came the announcement over the PA system.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," grumbled Cathy as she stood up from the crate she sat next to Trowa. They had actually managed to have a nice conversation. Cathy had to do most of it, but it was fine with her. She pulled the coat Trowa had placed over her objecting shoulders and handed it back to him. She began to turn when the second announcement came on.   
  
"Team 59… Team 59 go to the gate at once. Team59." She froze and slowly turned to meet Trowa's eyes.   
  
"What team number were you again?" she asked in a croak.   
  
"59," he grumbled in a stoic voice. Shaking her head in denial, she spun around and headed straight for the gate, not turning back.   
  
Cathy reached the gate breathless, her eyes slightly blurred. The others all awaited her at the gate. As she stopped in front of them they all stopped to look at her.   
  
"Hey Cat, what's wrong?" asked Hilde with concern.   
  
"We're going to play a game…" she gasped.   
  
"Yeah, and we'll beat the crap out of them just like always!" The others gave whoops of the anticipated victories to come.   
  
"Come on, let's get out there!" cried Natria, feeling the excitement and her blood rush. She was ready.   
  
"No, you guys don't understand…" Before Cathy could finish the team they were playing against stepped forward towards the gate.   
  
Cathy felt her entire team stiffen. There before them stood Quatre, Trowa, Duo, Wufei, and Heero. No one could react; even if they wanted to they couldn't because the guard came for them at that time. The girls were all dragged in the opposite direction as the other team. The teams were hustled into opposite ends of a large arena. The crowds cheered wildly for the next game to begin. The faces of the crowd were filled with greedy smiles and twinkling eyes in anticipation of what was to come… blood. They thirsted for it.   
  
Relena let her gaze travel over the crowds and found Owner among the ravenous people. His gaze was intensely set on her and the team. Her eyes narrowed in fury. All of this misery was made even worse, into a living hell, all because of that cocky bastard standing up there. She realized that in order to win that freedom, she would have to abandon someone else's freedom as well… Heero's. Perhaps it was best that she follow through with her plan. After this thought, she turned abruptly and looked at the girls. Each of them seemed as if they were off in their own world, all but Dorothy it seemed. Relena brought their attention back when she huddled them up.   
  
"I know all of you are nervous about this next game, just remember, they are going for our goal as well and we aren't going to give it to them. Fight as if they were any other team, but be careful, I've heard things about their team. They're good… very good." Natria's eyes hardened in determination and nodded curtly. Cathy bit her lip for a moment in her uncertain way, but it looked as if she had made a decision and her stance stiffened.   
  
"It's their freedom or ours," she growled, clenching her fists. Relena nodded in approval.   
  
"All right, let's get out there. Don't hesitate. Owner is watching us. Don't screw up either. I'd rather come out of this unscathed." It was then that the guards came for them and shoved them out into the ring. The girls proceeded to stretch and do a few moves to warm up their frozen muscles. Hilde's adrenaline was running high now and she thirsted for the game. Her eyes ran over the other team.   
  
'They're only another team, they're only another team, another team, another team…" she kept on repeating. The boys were looking at them with stone cold eyes and Cathy felt her resolve harden even more. Even Quatre wore a look of a warrior as the crowd began to settle, awaiting the opening to the game. They were just as prepared to fight as her and the rest of the team. So be it, she would fight as fierce here as she had in the past.   
  
Everyone took their positions as they picked someone to guard and the ball was brought onto the court. The crowd immediately went into an uproar of cheering and cat calling. There was not a pair of eyes on that court that showed a weakness. They were all prepared for this battle. It was inevitable.   
  
The ball was thrown straight into the air and the savage game began. 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
Natria made a leap for the ball as Trowa also reached up. Unfortunately for her, he was much taller and knocked the ball easily from her grasp. She swore and vowed that next time she wouldn't be nice and knock him down before he would get it. The boys took the ball for a few moments. Natria was close behind Trowa who was dribbling at a lightening pace. Duo gave a high-pitched whistle and without a glance, Trowa tossed the ball to his teammate. Dorothy was right on Duo's tail. She was catching up to his flanks quickly and reached around and swiped the ball from his grasp. Regretfully, Dorothy and Duo both lost their footing and tumbled into a mass of arms and legs. The ball rolled away off to the side more in favor of the boys. Dorothy cursed and pounded the ground once with her fist quickly before she jumped back up and chased after the ball, Duo right ahead of her. Cathy then jumped forward and grabbed hold of the loose ball. Holding it like a baby, she crouched when she saw Quatre barreling towards her. He flipped over her suddenly hunched back and landed hard on his hip. He grunted as the pain shot down his leg and up his side, but quickly recovered as Cathy took off at full speed down the court. Heero was surprised by her speed, but he saw that she had missed seeing him come towards her.   
  
"I'll take that," he mumbled. He immediately shot forward and snatched the ball out of Cathy's hands and the tide was now heading back towards the other hoop. Wufei guarded him on his left. The Chinese player roughly shoved Dorothy back as she landed hard on her back as they continued their way down the court. Relena stepped in then and snatched the ball just as quickly as Heero had run forward and grabbed it from Cathy. Now it was time to show why she was the leader of this team. Her speed was almost as fast as Cathy, but her agility was phenomenal. Duo was standing right in front of her in a guard position.   
  
"It's time to break the barrier," she thought to herself. Her eyes narrowed in her resolution. Shooting straight forward, she was heading right into Duo. Right before she was going to ram him she flipped around and whipped out a knife. Duo's eyes widened when he saw the blade and reared back. Relena came down and let the knife fly freely in her hand. It made its way towards Duo's chest. Hilde held her breath as she watched her best friend come down on Duo's arm instead. The gash was deep and caused Duo to wince in pain.   
  
"She missed on purpose," he thought in shock. Relena cursed herself and went quickly over in her head why she had suddenly changed the course of her knife and quickly shoved the thought aside, putting her mind on more important things. Hilde glared after Relena for a moment but then followed the same guard position Wufei had been on for Heero. She whipped out a dull dagger and was running just as fast as Relena as they maneuvered around the other players of their team and the others and knocking down players if they were in their way. Finally the basket was in sight and Relena's head bowed in deep determination as she purposely shot ahead of Hilde, leaving her behind and ran to slam dunk the cursed ball. The ball went through with a whoosh. The first point had been scored. Cheers were going up as some of the money was being traded among the viewers. Bets were placed on the first point before the game now there were bets for the ending winner.   
  
Duo hastily wrapped his arm with a ripped piece of his shirt. He pulled the knot tight with one hand and his mouth. His eyes were centered on Relena. She had missed purposely. He had put his guard down. It would have served him right to be bleeding on the ground at this point. Sighing he quickly returned to his guarding position in front of Dorothy. The ball was thrown over to Heero who barely even looked at it as it flew towards him. Instead, he was examining the players. He had assessed that Natria was the one who was the best at sacrificing herself to get the ball and would go all out at any cost. She definitely wasn't the best one to throw the ball towards, in Trowa's direction. The problem was that Trowa was the fastest on their team and could easily take the ball down the court. Heero's gaze then shifted to Hilde. She was good, really good with her weapons and would have been bad to provoke any further injuries. Relena had purposely pulled out hers to break the weapon barrier that always formed in the beginning of every game. This particular barrier was different though. They were going to hurt the people they cared for. Heero shook his head to clear it. Quatre was the best guardsman on the team. Wufei second best but was definitely good at his weapons and stamina as well. As he reassessed the situation he was coming to the conclusion that they would have to switch up if the game continued in this fashion. His eyes turned to Cathy. She was fast, faster than him even and he saw that Wufei wasn't going to be able to keep up with her. Yes, there would definitely have to be a switching around of players if they were to make it through this game. The moment the ball was in his hands he shot forward and wove his way past Relena, who had also been assessing the situation, but was almost distracted a decimal past the time limit she had expected and that gave Heero the chance he needed to get past her. She cursed and took off after him.   
  
As Heero was half way down the court, he saw that Cathy was trying to make her way around Wufei and Hilde had just gotten away from Quatre on his right and was heading straight for him. He wasn't going to make it out of the collision course, so he scanned for a player further down the court for an open teammate… Trowa. Natria saw the quick recognition and moved to intercept the ball, but Duo saw on the upper right court what Natria was planning on doing and quickly ran for her. Just as the ball was in Trowa's hands Natria crashed into him with a half drawn spike hidden in between her knuckles. Trowa felt it ram its way into his side. He hadn't seen that one before! Just as that painful connection Duo had reached them and had literally bowled Natria over with his metal knuckle case he had whisked out. It was a covering for his fist, something he had been working on over the last few months. It was tied securely over his wrist, but with a flick of his wrist it was covering his clenched fist. Natria felt the metal join with her jaw and she felt like an explosion had just gone off in her head. All three of them tumbled to the ground, Trowa still clutching the ball. Instead of waiting for anything else to happen, Trowa leapt up and headed straight for the hoop, not even bothering to glance at Dorothy as he used his speed to fly around her and straight for the hoop. One hand holding his bleeding side, the other reaching up, and the ball went in with a whoosh.   
  
Back next to Heero, the entire time some more damage was being done. As Cathy was moving to intercept Heero's run down the court, Wufei had leapt out, extending his dagger. It ran right between the webbing of two of her fingers, tearing it and another spike attached to one of his knuckles flew up and smacked her in the ribs. Letting out a gasp, Cathy fell back, clutching her hand, bleeding badly from both wounds. Relena was almost upon Heero at this point, but he let out a burst of speed when he threw the ball to Trowa. She saw that Hilde was going to intercept as well and had been nearly brought down by Quatre and a result of that was a small pool of blood trickling behind her. Her injury was somewhere in the patch of blood covering her stomach. She let out a roar and rammed Heero's stomach. He left out an 'oomph' and fell back, landing on Relena, causing her wrist to be pushed back in an awkward position. Relena bit her lip against the pain, but found that it would have to be all right in order get through this game. By the time the ball had gone through the hoop, two of each team were down and bleeding. Slowly they got up, painful inch by painful inch. The crowd loved it.   
  
Up in the stands two owners watched with grim gazes as the game unfolded. It seemed that the boys from there on out were barely able to keep up with the girls point wise.   
  
"You better win you little wenches or I'm going to paint you black and blue," grumbled Owner with a furious gleam in his eyes. His pudgy hands were clenching as his face was changing various interesting shades of red and purple. Hiroshi noticed this man's odd behavior and immediately became interested. He leaned over and gave a conversational air to himself.   
  
"That your team down there?" he asked light-heartedly. Owner turned and glowered at him, almost suspiciously.   
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, they are." Hiroshi raised his eyebrow.   
  
"The girls?" Owner nodded. "They are fine specimens! One of the best I've seen so far. My team I've trained personally is here as well," he said, failing to mention his team was down there against Owner's team at that very moment. Owner's eyebrows raised in interest.   
  
"Really? Perhaps we could do some business sometime, concerning the Lost Children of course." Hiroshi almost regretted starting the conversation due to the god-awful smell coming from the other man's mouth. It was the stench of liquor and he almost knew right away that this was an abusive owner. Not all owners were brutal, but many did not have much concern for their Lost Children's emotions or feelings. This man had little respect for anything in general of Lost Children.   
  
"I would like to do business sometime. If we see each other at the 3rd Level Tournaments I'll be sure to give you my card and we can talk later." Owner nodded contentedly.   
  
"All right." A moment of silence passed between the two men and Hiroshi spoke up again, curious as into the response.   
  
"They are fine players. They could even win the championships. That would bring you a lot of money. It's too bad that you would have to let them go." Instead of an infuriated reply, Owner only let a sly smile spread across his face and Hiroshi's theory was verified.   
  
"I'm not going to let those little jewels go." Hiroshi decided to humor him and raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.   
  
"Really? They will want to buy their freedom. The way they're playing it looks to be that they're pretty desperate." Owner merely shrugged.   
  
"Of course they're desperate. I let them nurse the idea of freedom and the harder they play, but it does not mean I will accept the money. I may refuse them instead. I could use that money they make anyway, but I will not let these good finds go. They are the best I've ever had in my entire time in the slave market. They are rare." Hiroshi nodded in understanding. He had heard of owners doing this before, but very few did. It was so dishonorable, not that the enslavement of children wasn't already dishonorable, but this was beyond contempt. Instead of showing his repulsion, Hiroshi turned his head back towards the game. It had been going on for over an hour now and he was getting nervous. Not one game had lasted this long before in the 2nd Level Tournaments, maybe in the championships, but certainly not at a level tournament. The score was tied and it looked as if Heero and boys were nearly at their ropes end.   
  
The smell of sweat and blood filled the court as some of the players slipped in some of the droplets of blood littering the floor. The crowd was much calmer, realizing the enormity of this game. This was probably one of the most spectacular games they would ever bet on in their entire lives.   
  
Heero looked about his team and realized that they were all equally tired, but tried not to show it. His gaze then wandered towards the other teammates and saw that they were faring a little better, but not by much. They probably weren't near ready to give up. It was then that Heero made his decision. He held up his arms in a single for a one-minute time out. This was permitted to every team once in the entire course of a game. Heero knew Hiroshi was examining this in the stands, but he figured his owner would find out what he was doing soon. Relena's eyes narrowed when she saw the called timeout. The guys huddled in a small circle and quickly conversed among each other.   
  
"We're changing up the guarding pairs," said Heero, his breath coming short and his voice filled with exhaustion, but his eyes showed he was far from done. "Trowa, you're with Cathy, you two are the fastest on both teams, you can cancel each other then. Wufei, stick on Hilde, she is familiar with her weapons and so are you. You will cancel each other hopefully. Quatre, with Natria, Duo, stay with Dorothy. I think this arrangement will be better liked by all of us." The others nodded, not seeing any reason to argue. They all broke and then went to their assigned person. The girls sent nervous looks at each other. The score was a tie of 4 points each, but they had a distinct feeling that they were doing better off than the guys. This sudden change in pairings was not a good sign.   
  
Cathy saw the glimmer in Trowa's eyes and her own narrowed. How did I get stuck with him? She thought to herself.   
  
Everyone waited tensely as the ball was once again brought out onto the courts. It was crusted with blood on many rounded parts, making it slightly harder to grip, but the man didn't seem to notice. Cathy and Trowa were set in the middle and faced off. The intensity grew to the point of suffocation. Finally, the ball was thrown up in the air and even a few watchers in the stands stood up with their anticipation.   
  
Cathy was prepared, knowing that Trowa was much taller than her and could reach the ball before her so she ran forward instead and jabbed him in the stomach with an elbow. Trowa could have sworn he heard a whispered apology as Cathy snatched the ball and sped off towards the net, but Wufei took the ball away from her. Hilde, as expected yanked out a knife and went after him and he dodged, but losing the ball at the same time. This continued for another hour, both sides scoring to always put them at an even, never winning or losing.   
  
By the time the second hour was rolling around, all of the players were fairly injured and bloody, the floor no longer sprinkled with blood, but enough to make a player fall once or twice and lose the ball.   
  
Hiroshi looked up at the announcers and saw them whispering among themselves. He turned back to the game and his eyes narrowed. A certain pattern had started long ago. They would use petty attacks against each other, but then a run for the net would always be followed by a mass of injuries. Such as the one an hour ago where Trowa, Natria, Heero, Cathy, and Relena all were injured at the same time, none of the injuries very nice bits at all. Hiroshi could sense it, as well as the announcers, there was going to be another full out massacre. This had been happening the entire time; he hadn't noticed it until now though. The players were all badly hurt, but weren't willing to back down and the announcers saw that.   
  
At that very moment of thought, Hiroshi saw the massacre unfold. It was a spectacular sight to see!   
  
Heero carried the ball now and was making a dead out run for the net on the other side of the court, he wasn't going to make it. Relena was right behind him and somehow, the other team had noticed that their leader was onto Heero. They followed suit and somehow found their way out of the guard positions and took a head on run at Heero as well, an all out ambush. Heero was stuck in the middle of it. The guys were stunned for a moment but followed their opponents after one moment and then tried to stop the inevitable. No telling what would happen to their teammate if all of the other team ganged up on him.   
  
Duo tackled Dorothy from behind and threw her across the floor as Wufei used his dagger to make Hilde stagger in her footsteps and trip. He jumped her and swung her out away from Heero who was now being grabbed around the legs by Relena, pulling him down. Cathy had made it there as well but saw that Hilde was being beaten as well and went to assist her. Trowa grabbed her from behind, but she swung around and hit his already bruised cheek. With quickness of a lioness, Natria was next to Heero and pulled her dagger out meaning to hold him still with the tip of it next to his throat, but just as she pulled her knife out she was grabbed from behind and flung back, running into Cathy who was just turning back around in her current direction. Both of them went tumbling down. Natria shot back up, still seeing that Relena was still struggling with stopping Heero from getting back on his feet and was about to run to help, but Wufei being the one who threw her back was there to stop her. Hilde had shaken her head and stood up, running full speed at Wufei, locking knives with him. His strength was more than hers though and she was now kneeling. Dorothy shot across, leaping over Heero and Relena and rammed into Wufei, releasing Hilde from the death trap. Natria at that time was diving for her knife that she had dropped, but Quatre put his foot on top of it. Natria looked up and glared, but quickly swung her leg out and tripped Quatre off of his feet, putting him on his already soar leg. He let out a choked cry. It was a near full out carnage!   
  
The entire crowd was roaring with cheers and laughter, egging the players on. Hiroshi was frowning as if deep in thought. Owner's face was bright red as the PA system blared to life. Hiroshi looked back at the announcers and saw they intended to call an end to the game down below.   
  
"Due to the lack of time and exhaustion of us announcers, we have called a draw. There is only 12 more hours left until the end of this tournament and we will not waste it on one game. IT IS A DRAW!" the announcer yelled as the crowd wailed in protest.   
  
The players down below seemed to give out that moment and fumbled to get away from each other. Each team made a slow struggle towards the exit to the Ice Cage. Their sweat was turned to cold ice almost immediately. Relena stopped a moment to look back at Owner. His face was livid and she felt her heart sink. Slowly, dejectedly, she turned away and headed back to the Cage with her teammates, not even looking at Heero, who was staring intensely at her. 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Heero wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, but the only thing that really mattered was being there to see if everything was all right. He didn't get further than three steps before Hiroshi grabbed his collar. The young player was swung around to meet ancient eyes. The wrinkles did not hide the awareness and hard sharpness deep in those shining orbs.   
  
"You're not to go near that other team," he bellowed forcefully. Heero's head snapped around to his owner. "Don't let the others near them either," he growled. His Lost Boy jerked as if to stalk off, but Hiroshi yanked him back, hanging on tightly.   
  
"Do you hear me? That other team is a failure, I can smell the stench of it."   
  
"They gave us both a draw," said Heero through a clenched jaw. Hiroshi let a cynical smile spread over his face.   
  
"They were a failure from the beginning. They're slaves, Heero. They aren't getting out." Heero stopped casting glances at the fading back of Relena and focused his full attention on Hiroshi.   
  
"What do you mean?" he practically growled.   
  
"Their owner isn't buying again. He's not letting them go. They're as good as dead. Tell the team to cut away from them." Heero gave a questioning look and Hiroshi smiled knowingly. "My eyes see more than just the money you boys make me. I was one of you too you know."   
  
"You've never been in this position…" Heero's sentence was cut off as he was slammed up against the wall. When his eyes focused, still weak from the last game, he saw Hiroshi's eyes filled with anger and… pain.   
  
"I swear if I ever hear you say that again, I'll rip your tongue out!" He didn't yell, but whispered it menacingly. Heero had to admit, for an old man, he was still as strong as ever. "You think I haven't been through everything any Lost Child has? Every slave falls in love, they're human too. Pain comes with the loss of love and pain is bessential/b to win this game." PL  
  
"What happened?" asked Heero with coldness trimming his voice.   
  
"I beat her in the games and won my freedom." Realization ran through Heero's face. "Win these championships, Heero, and you and the team will win your freedom. Don't let a year of championships go wasted on the doomed."   
  
Cathy sat at the back of the Ice Cage holding a bag of ice to her bruised eye. It was turning various shades of purple, blue, and black. The swelling had at least gone down some. She decided that she was satisfied with the outcome of the game. It would make it easier to talk to Trowa. Her spirits lightened at the thought of everything being all right. Speak of the devil; Trowa was walking straight towards her. She smiled and lifted her hand holding the ice and waved a little. He glanced at her for only a second before walking right past her. Cathy sat a moment in shock and quickly got up after him. She nearly stumbled due to her injuries, but regained her balance.   
  
"Trowa! Hey Trowa!"   
  
Trowa winced when he realized she was coming after him. He had seen her too late to change his course and had chosen to walk right by instead. Taking a deep breath he turned around and faced Cathy. She was grinning, but it quickly faded when she saw his cold demeanor.   
  
"Are you all right?" she asked with concern. She ran her eyes over him. She saw he hadn't taken care of his wounds yet. She gasped and took an involuntary step forward. He cautiously backed away a little.   
  
"You haven't treated your wound!" She reached out a hand and he pulled away before she could touch him and she looked as if he had just slapped her.   
  
"Don't touch me," he ordered. Her back stiffened and her eyes made a transition from concern to a blank, hard slate.   
  
"Fine," she replied shortly and before Trowa could take anything back she stalked in the direction she came from.   
  
"Goodbye, Cathy," he whispered.   
  
Somehow, all of the girls had ended up in the same spot, a few yards away from the front of the Ice Cage. All of which, were in foul moods. Every bit of body language expressed it was freezing, but what was more clear to anyone else, they wanted to be left alone. All of them had their experiences like Cathy. Duo refused to even look at Hilde; he acted as if she wasn't even there. She so much as tried to wrap an arm around his shoulders and he pulled away as if bitten by a snake. Wufei had not approached Natria after she called to him several times and when she walked over to him, he gave her a scathing look and turned around and walked away. Dorothy walked up to Quatre soon after he had arrived back into the Ice Cage and offered to help him with his wounds, but he had stuttered for a moment and walked in the other direction, stating he would take care of it himself. Relena had seen Heero several times, and in fact she knew that he had seen her as well, but he refused to approach her. If that was the way he liked it, then fine. Suddenly, the PA system rang out through the cage.   
  
"Team 135, come to the front gate. Team 135." The girls looked around in confusion. They hadn't expected to be back in the ring so soon. Natria shifted nervously from one foot to the other and then quickly started to make their way over to the front of the Cage. They were pulled out and taken away to the arena, only 20 minutes since their last game with the boys. Dorothy and Natria hadn't even seen to their earlier wounds yet. Relena closed her eyes and made a silent prayer that they would make it through as the victors and hopefully in one piece.   
  
Duo was listening to a bunch of gossiping slaves that stood nearby him. What they were talking about peaked his interested when he heard the words Team 135 repeated various times. There was scorn in their voices, but it was obviously not pointed at the players. It involved their owner. Duo and the other boys on his team had noticed that the girls were called back very soon after their game together and were immediately uneasy. Now, only an hour later, he was hearing what happened. Evidently, the girls had won, but just barely. They were wounded and bruised from head to foot, but the game was not the cause to the extra bruises. Apparently, their owner was upset with them for nearly losing the chance at going to the championships and had flogged them all in a small back cavern for it, even though they had come out as the winners. Duo glowered at the thought of Hilde even more damaged than when he left her at the arena. Heero had told them soon after the situation and all of them were furious. They saw the impossible situation they were in and did the only thing they could do. They cut off anything that would bring out any emotion and those were the girls.   
  
Duo slowly made his way back to his teammates and found them all lounging about, nursing their wounds and cuts. They looked like a ragged bunch and were about ready to fall into small pieces. It was amazing that probably only a few muscles and such held them together after that ordeal. Duo stalked over to Heero and leaned against the wall in the same position that his friend was in.   
  
"They won the game," he growled. The others looked at him surprised.   
  
"You don't sound very happy about it," said Quatre. Duo glared at him, but not meaning it for him.   
  
"I overheard some other guys talking. Apparently, the owner was not happy that they almost lost because of their weak state." Quatre's eyes widened in realization and then in disbelief.   
  
"No, no owner would beat up his winning team! It isn't logical," he cried in outrage. Heero was glaring down at the floor and tapping one finger rapidly on his elbow as his arms were crossed over his chest. His face looked deadly. His finger was the only sign of his upset state though.   
  
"This man is insane and illogical," he growled. All eyes turned back to their captain. Heero finally looked up at him. His face was hard as stone and could have been chiseled into, but Heero's eyes were filled with hate.   
  
As Heero gazed at his own teammates, he saw the feeling was being reflected as well.   
  
"I say we give their owner a little bit of something to whine about," snarled Trowa. Now everyone was surprised. Trowa almost never showed his anger, especially when it affected him the least amount. Oh, but this did affect him, in more ways then one. He saw the way Cathy looked before she went out there for the other game. She was bloodied and ready to fall over with exhaustion. He could only imagine how she was doing now.   
  
Finally, the others got the meaning to what he suggested and nodded with fiendish grins on their faces. Duo might have actually sprouted horns. Not their owner? Well, then… free reign here. Heero had mentioned that Hiroshi showed disgust for the other owner. There would be no consequences.   
  
Owner sat up in the stands watching as the teams went in and out. He had gotten quite a bit of money that day and he was very proud of that amount. It was all because of the girls. His face grew grim when he remembered how they had almost lost it all for him. He would have to do a little more discipline with them after the Tournament was over. It was then that he noticed that the boys that his team had played were coming out into the arena to play another game. Was it just he, or were they glaring at him? One of them, he had a long braid going down his back, looked him straight in the eye, flipped out a knife and licked the edge slightly. It was a perverse move and Owner looked on him with an arrogant disgust.   
  
As the game progressed Owner forgot all about the strange attitude of players before the game. Of course, the boys were winning this one. He would be sure to push the girls extra hard to win against this team. He wanted that prize money from the championship, which was almost a sinful amount. Of course, it went to the person or people who played, but Owner would have to just make sure that it would not get that far. He smirked to himself at this thought. It was so good to have power!   
  
His thoughts were interrupted as a ball came flying straight towards his head. His eyes widened as he just managed to duck away from the flying object. His eyes were as large as a fish's and his mouth looked as if it had been stranded on land. He slowly turned back around to look at the court. All heads of the opposite team were rather surprised and confused as in to why the ball had accidentally made its way into the audience. The boys on the other hand were glaring up at him with a purpose. He saw the challenge there and his own eyes narrowed in response. He almost expected the announcers to call in the guard to take away the boys for their disruptive behavior and have their owner to deal with them, but evidently, the ball being chucked so hard into the audience looked so much like a mistake that no one had even thought of it being so. Owner knew though, it was all a conspiracy against him. Those boys. Well, if he guessed correctly… He turned to a servant standing nearby and whispered something to him. The servant nodded and walked away. Owner turned back to the game below and smiled smugly down at the boys. They immediately looked weary. What did he have up his sleeve?   
  
A moment later, Cathy was dragged up from behind by her arms; she was stumbling and was barely able to keep her consciousness. Owner grabbed her hair and dragged her down next to him. He made sure that the boys down there understood very clearly that he had complete control over his team and they could do nothing to stop him.   
  
One particular boy let his eyes grow wild with fury. Owner centered his attention on him and smiled devilishly. Everyone sitting near Owner shot disgusted looks at Cathy, from her bloodied face, blackened eye, to her bedraggled state. Cathy seemed absolutely oblivious. She kept on flashing in and out of consciousness. She had been dragged away by the guards from her friends, all of them protesting, being she had gotten the worst of the beating. Now, for some reason, she stood next to Owner, watching the boys play below. All playing had seemed to stop for a moment as Owner snarled something to the servant. He was about to take away Cathy, when Owner, just for good measure stopped him and slapped Cathy mildly across the face. It was enough to send her sprawling though and a few droplets of blood flew across the floor. There was a roar from the arena below and all eyes turned to see that Trowa was making a mad dash for the stands, but Heero and Wufei had caught him just in time to keep him from doing any damage. Cathy had gone unconscious at this point. Two servants had to come and drag her away, her head bobbing, dripping blood from her nose and lip. She looked like she had been through a war. In a way, she had.   
  
Finally after a few moments, Trowa was cooled down as Heero spoke a few quick words to him. He took a visible grip on his emotions and turned back to the game, almost as if willing himself from going after Cathy's owner with tooth and claw.   
  
After the game was over and they had won they were intercepted by Hiroshi. His eyes were blazing. So much for no consequences.   
  
"You fools!" he growled. "Did you want him to know you paid extra attention to them?" He turned on Trowa. "And you! Your behavior out there was inexcusable! If I didn't need you on this team I would beat you worse than what he did to your girlfriend! You little idiots! You have sealed their fate now!" The boys looked rebellious, but shamed at the same time. "Get out of here, you're making me sick!" growled Hiroshi. The boys quickly made their way to the Ice Cage, not stopping until they were inside. They took a deep breath for a moment, gave each other a deciding nod and went in search of the girls. 


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 11  
  
Heero wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, but the only thing that really mattered was being there to see if everything was all right. He didn't get further than three steps before Hiroshi grabbed his collar. The young player was swung around to meet ancient eyes. The wrinkles did not hide the awareness and hard sharpness deep in those shining orbs.   
  
"You're not to go near that other team," he bellowed forcefully. Heero's head snapped around to his owner. "Don't let the others near them either," he growled. His Lost Boy jerked as if to stalk off, but Hiroshi yanked him back, hanging on tightly.   
  
"Do you hear me? That other team is a failure, I can smell the stench of it."   
  
"They gave us both a draw," said Heero through a clenched jaw. Hiroshi let a cynical smile spread over his face.   
  
"They were a failure from the beginning. They're slaves, Heero. They aren't getting out." Heero stopped casting glances at the fading back of Relena and focused his full attention on Hiroshi.   
  
"What do you mean?" he practically growled.   
  
"Their owner isn't buying again. He's not letting them go. They're as good as dead. Tell the team to cut away from them." Heero gave a questioning look and Hiroshi smiled knowingly. "My eyes see more than just the money you boys make me. I was one of you too you know."   
  
"You've never been in this position…" Heero's sentence was cut off as he was slammed up against the wall. When his eyes focused, still weak from the last game, he saw Hiroshi's eyes filled with anger and… pain.   
  
"I swear if I ever hear you say that again, I'll rip your tongue out!" He didn't yell, but whispered it menacingly. Heero had to admit, for an old man, he was still as strong as ever. "You think I haven't been through everything any Lost Child has? Every slave falls in love, they're human too. Pain comes with the loss of love and pain is bessential/b to win this game." PL  
  
"What happened?" asked Heero with coldness trimming his voice.   
  
"I beat her in the games and won my freedom." Realization ran through Heero's face. "Win these championships, Heero, and you and the team will win your freedom. Don't let a year of championships go wasted on the doomed."   
  
Cathy sat at the back of the Ice Cage holding a bag of ice to her bruised eye. It was turning various shades of purple, blue, and black. The swelling had at least gone down some. She decided that she was satisfied with the outcome of the game. It would make it easier to talk to Trowa. Her spirits lightened at the thought of everything being all right. Speak of the devil; Trowa was walking straight towards her. She smiled and lifted her hand holding the ice and waved a little. He glanced at her for only a second before walking right past her. Cathy sat a moment in shock and quickly got up after him. She nearly stumbled due to her injuries, but regained her balance.   
  
"Trowa! Hey Trowa!"   
  
Trowa winced when he realized she was coming after him. He had seen her too late to change his course and had chosen to walk right by instead. Taking a deep breath he turned around and faced Cathy. She was grinning, but it quickly faded when she saw his cold demeanor.   
  
"Are you all right?" she asked with concern. She ran her eyes over him. She saw he hadn't taken care of his wounds yet. She gasped and took an involuntary step forward. He cautiously backed away a little.   
  
"You haven't treated your wound!" She reached out a hand and he pulled away before she could touch him and she looked as if he had just slapped her.   
  
"Don't touch me," he ordered. Her back stiffened and her eyes made a transition from concern to a blank, hard slate.   
  
"Fine," she replied shortly and before Trowa could take anything back she stalked in the direction she came from.   
  
"Goodbye, Cathy," he whispered.   
  
Somehow, all of the girls had ended up in the same spot, a few yards away from the front of the Ice Cage. All of which, were in foul moods. Every bit of body language expressed it was freezing, but what was more clear to anyone else, they wanted to be left alone. All of them had their experiences like Cathy. Duo refused to even look at Hilde; he acted as if she wasn't even there. She so much as tried to wrap an arm around his shoulders and he pulled away as if bitten by a snake. Wufei had not approached Natria after she called to him several times and when she walked over to him, he gave her a scathing look and turned around and walked away. Dorothy walked up to Quatre soon after he had arrived back into the Ice Cage and offered to help him with his wounds, but he had stuttered for a moment and walked in the other direction, stating he would take care of it himself. Relena had seen Heero several times, and in fact she knew that he had seen her as well, but he refused to approach her. If that was the way he liked it, then fine. Suddenly, the PA system rang out through the cage.   
  
"Team 135, come to the front gate. Team 135." The girls looked around in confusion. They hadn't expected to be back in the ring so soon. Natria shifted nervously from one foot to the other and then quickly started to make their way over to the front of the Cage. They were pulled out and taken away to the arena, only 20 minutes since their last game with the boys. Dorothy and Natria hadn't even seen to their earlier wounds yet. Relena closed her eyes and made a silent prayer that they would make it through as the victors and hopefully in one piece.   
  
Duo was listening to a bunch of gossiping slaves that stood nearby him. What they were talking about peaked his interested when he heard the words Team 135 repeated various times. There was scorn in their voices, but it was obviously not pointed at the players. It involved their owner. Duo and the other boys on his team had noticed that the girls were called back very soon after their game together and were immediately uneasy. Now, only an hour later, he was hearing what happened. Evidently, the girls had won, but just barely. They were wounded and bruised from head to foot, but the game was not the cause to the extra bruises. Apparently, their owner was upset with them for nearly losing the chance at going to the championships and had flogged them all in a small back cavern for it, even though they had come out as the winners. Duo glowered at the thought of Hilde even more damaged than when he left her at the arena. Heero had told them soon after the situation and all of them were furious. They saw the impossible situation they were in and did the only thing they could do. They cut off anything that would bring out any emotion and those were the girls.   
  
Duo slowly made his way back to his teammates and found them all lounging about, nursing their wounds and cuts. They looked like a ragged bunch and were about ready to fall into small pieces. It was amazing that probably only a few muscles and such held them together after that ordeal. Duo stalked over to Heero and leaned against the wall in the same position that his friend was in.   
  
"They won the game," he growled. The others looked at him surprised.   
  
"You don't sound very happy about it," said Quatre. Duo glared at him, but not meaning it for him.   
  
"I overheard some other guys talking. Apparently, the owner was not happy that they almost lost because of their weak state." Quatre's eyes widened in realization and then in disbelief.   
  
"No, no owner would beat up his winning team! It isn't logical," he cried in outrage. Heero was glaring down at the floor and tapping one finger rapidly on his elbow as his arms were crossed over his chest. His face looked deadly. His finger was the only sign of his upset state though.   
  
"This man is insane and illogical," he growled. All eyes turned back to their captain. Heero finally looked up at him. His face was hard as stone and could have been chiseled into, but Heero's eyes were filled with hate.   
  
As Heero gazed at his own teammates, he saw the feeling was being reflected as well.   
  
"I say we give their owner a little bit of something to whine about," snarled Trowa. Now everyone was surprised. Trowa almost never showed his anger, especially when it affected him the least amount. Oh, but this did affect him, in more ways then one. He saw the way Cathy looked before she went out there for the other game. She was bloodied and ready to fall over with exhaustion. He could only imagine how she was doing now.   
  
Finally, the others got the meaning to what he suggested and nodded with fiendish grins on their faces. Duo might have actually sprouted horns. Not their owner? Well, then… free reign here. Heero had mentioned that Hiroshi showed disgust for the other owner. There would be no consequences.   
  
Owner sat up in the stands watching as the teams went in and out. He had gotten quite a bit of money that day and he was very proud of that amount. It was all because of the girls. His face grew grim when he remembered how they had almost lost it all for him. He would have to do a little more discipline with them after the Tournament was over. It was then that he noticed that the boys that his team had played were coming out into the arena to play another game. Was it just he, or were they glaring at him? One of them, he had a long braid going down his back, looked him straight in the eye, flipped out a knife and licked the edge slightly. It was a perverse move and Owner looked on him with an arrogant disgust.   
  
As the game progressed Owner forgot all about the strange attitude of players before the game. Of course, the boys were winning this one. He would be sure to push the girls extra hard to win against this team. He wanted that prize money from the championship, which was almost a sinful amount. Of course, it went to the person or people who played, but Owner would have to just make sure that it would not get that far. He smirked to himself at this thought. It was so good to have power!   
  
His thoughts were interrupted as a ball came flying straight towards his head. His eyes widened as he just managed to duck away from the flying object. His eyes were as large as a fish's and his mouth looked as if it had been stranded on land. He slowly turned back around to look at the court. All heads of the opposite team were rather surprised and confused as in to why the ball had accidentally made its way into the audience. The boys on the other hand were glaring up at him with a purpose. He saw the challenge there and his own eyes narrowed in response. He almost expected the announcers to call in the guard to take away the boys for their disruptive behavior and have their owner to deal with them, but evidently, the ball being chucked so hard into the audience looked so much like a mistake that no one had even thought of it being so. Owner knew though, it was all a conspiracy against him. Those boys. Well, if he guessed correctly… He turned to a servant standing nearby and whispered something to him. The servant nodded and walked away. Owner turned back to the game below and smiled smugly down at the boys. They immediately looked weary. What did he have up his sleeve?   
  
A moment later, Cathy was dragged up from behind by her arms; she was stumbling and was barely able to keep her consciousness. Owner grabbed her hair and dragged her down next to him. He made sure that the boys down there understood very clearly that he had complete control over his team and they could do nothing to stop him.   
  
One particular boy let his eyes grow wild with fury. Owner centered his attention on him and smiled devilishly. Everyone sitting near Owner shot disgusted looks at Cathy, from her bloodied face, blackened eye, to her bedraggled state. Cathy seemed absolutely oblivious. She kept on flashing in and out of consciousness. She had been dragged away by the guards from her friends, all of them protesting, being she had gotten the worst of the beating. Now, for some reason, she stood next to Owner, watching the boys play below. All playing had seemed to stop for a moment as Owner snarled something to the servant. He was about to take away Cathy, when Owner, just for good measure stopped him and slapped Cathy mildly across the face. It was enough to send her sprawling though and a few droplets of blood flew across the floor. There was a roar from the arena below and all eyes turned to see that Trowa was making a mad dash for the stands, but Heero and Wufei had caught him just in time to keep him from doing any damage. Cathy had gone unconscious at this point. Two servants had to come and drag her away, her head bobbing, dripping blood from her nose and lip. She looked like she had been through a war. In a way, she had.   
  
Finally after a few moments, Trowa was cooled down as Heero spoke a few quick words to him. He took a visible grip on his emotions and turned back to the game, almost as if willing himself from going after Cathy's owner with tooth and claw.   
  
After the game was over and they had won they were intercepted by Hiroshi. His eyes were blazing. So much for no consequences.   
  
"You fools!" he growled. "Did you want him to know you paid extra attention to them?" He turned on Trowa. "And you! Your behavior out there was inexcusable! If I didn't need you on this team I would beat you worse than what he did to your girlfriend! You little idiots! You have sealed their fate now!" The boys looked rebellious, but shamed at the same time. "Get out of here, you're making me sick!" growled Hiroshi. The boys quickly made their way to the Ice Cage, not stopping until they were inside. They took a deep breath for a moment, gave each other a deciding nod and went in search of the girls. 


	14. Chapter 13

It was getting later into the tournaments now and the beginnings of the sunset was approaching. As expected the new team of football players had lost, no disappointment there. They were poorly prepared for the hardships of the tournament. Relena was more concerned with her own team though. She saw they were barely able to keep above the other teams due to the fact that Cathy was now gone. Lucrezia was her name… she was doing decently well, but not quite as well as hoped. Dorothy didn't seem one bit surprised, which was strange, but what was the point of thinking about it. It wasn't going to accomplish anything.   
  
Relena sat down in a small corner, the boys had gone to play another game and the girls were left there to ponder over their own thoughts. Relena was thinking about what was going on between the players. Heero still would question her about that night he came to see her at the Rat House and those certain extensions (Chapter 5). So far, everyone didn't seem to see what she had figured out years earlier, so maybe she would end up just having to explain what she meant after all, instead of learning it for themselves. As she was contemplating the multiple reasons for the existence of the death matches between various teams, Natria walked over and sat down with a dull thud. Her legs were bent and her elbows were propped on her knees, allowing her hands to dangle in midair. After a few moments of silence, she turned to look over at Relena.   
  
"What are you thinking now?" she asked with mild curiosity.   
  
"Am I thinking of anything?" Relena said forlornly. Natria smiled slightly as she played around with a lone ant. She smashed it before she continued to speak to Relena with a small hint of amusement.   
  
"You have that look on your face. You always get it whenever you're thinking something over really hard and that seems to be one of those times."   
  
"If you do want to know, I was thinking about something that happened a few months ago." Natria seemed to think a few moments and then gave Relena a confused look.   
  
"When Heero and Duo showed up unexpectedly?" Relena nodded absently. "Why? There's nothing to think about back then." Her friend shrugged, as if she knew something, but didn't feel it needed to be said.   
  
"Why did he show up that night?" Natria asked curiously. Relena sighed and leaned further forward and picked up a stick, twirling it between her fingers before she answered.   
  
"When I first met him, I said some things and he wanted some answers, that's all." Natria looked incredulous.   
  
"It must have been some pretty confusing stuff." Once again, Relena gave an indifferent shrug. "So, what did you tell him?" Relena seemed to debate for a long moment on whether or not to say anything and finally made her decision.   
  
"I told him…" she hesitated, and then pushed on. "I told him that there was more to the game than just freedom." Natria's eyes widened for a moment of slight surprise, but then narrowed back into a look of amusement and wryness. This was Relena? Whenever she talked of the game she would always connect the word freedom there. Any sentence without it was completely alien to the captain of team 135. Natria had not seen this side of a conversation involving Relena before.   
  
"Relena… that doesn't sound like you." A small cynical smile spread over Relena's face.   
  
"No, it doesn't, does it? But, Natria, I've believed that there's something more to this game than just freedom for a long time now. What I know is something that other people had to learn on their own. Unfortunately, some people can't figure out what it is."   
  
"And what is it, Relena?" Relena didn't even have a chance to reply. Dorothy interrupted.   
  
"The games are symbols of the strength and determination of slaves. The encouragement for others to succeed." Relena smiled up at Dorothy.   
  
"You know, slaves are supposed to figure that out on their own." Dorothy only grinned back at her friend.   
  
"Well, I figured it's just easier to do it that way. Either way, they know." Natria's eyes were wide for a moment.   
  
"That's what both of you believe in? That the games are more than just ways for slaves to get out?" Relena and Dorothy nodded in unison.   
  
"That's really…"   
  
"Noble," interjected a voice. All eyes turned towards Hilde. She was smiling slightly as she sat down to join her teammates. "It's corny but noble. It would have taken me a long time to have figured it out, but now that it's out in the open, I guess I really have to agree with Relena and Dorothy."   
  
"And it's…" started Natria.   
  
"The answer to the riddle," came a deeper voice. Natria sent an annoyed look straight over to Heero, being that this was the second time she was interrupted. He was staring at Relena, who had assumed he had overheard as well.   
  
"Yes, the answer to the riddle." Recognition flashed over Relena's face as she turned to stare at the young man. He was looking over at her grimly.   
  
"Is that what your theory was?" he asked quietly. Relena looked down with a strange smile on her face and nodded.   
  
"It is something that I have been thinking of for many years now. I was here once before and found this out on my own." At this point everyone had gathered around the conversation, looking very interested. Lucrezia seemed to be the most confused out of all of them. She stood close to Dorothy.   
  
"What's going on?" she whispered. Dorothy sent her an annoyed look.   
  
"Nothing. Just things only a slave would understand," she whispered back. Lucrezia pulled back as if she were slapped and turned to sit a little further off, not far enough to be out of hearing range, but far enough so she wasn't hit again by one of Dorothy's barbs. She was still not forgiven for the scene that had occurred out in front of the Ice Cage gates. At least, she was not forgiven yet for her failure to prevent Dorothy's sudden transfer.   
  
Dorothy looked slightly regretful as Lucrezia moved away from the group, looking thoroughly penalized. Ignoring her guilt, her attention returned to the conversation unfolding in front of her.   
  
"It was really quite simple, Relena. You could have just blurted it right out. It wouldn't have made a difference," he said with irritation lining his words. Natria watched the beginning signs of her friend's hackles going up, but saw that she was making a visible effort to be sound.   
  
"I did not tell you for the exact reason of what's happening now." He along with everyone else was looking rather confused so Relena strove to pacify their puzzlement. "A person changes if they come to this conclusion on their own. I did. I was here… at the championships… many years ago and I was only seeking freedom, just like you Heero. My team was playing against the winning team of that year and we had nearly won, but one of our team members faltered. We lost. One of the other team members came up to me afterwards and presented me with a few words. I scorned him for those words because I thought he was gloating over his victory, but I see what he meant now." There was a moment of silence as Relena was lost in her memories.   
  
"If you're looking to make a dramatic pause, you've accomplished that," said Duo with annoyance. "What did he say?" Relena shook herself visibly and turned to look at her friends.   
  
"He said that, if he could have traded places with me, he would have done it, but only for one reason and one reason only. He wanted to be able to encourage his friends he had to leave behind to keep on trying. I, on the other hand, still had that opportunity. It took me over a year to figure out what he was saying. After the games, Owner sold the rest of the team and had bought Dorothy, Hilde, Cathy, and Natria. The members from the original team had separated into all directions and I don't think I'll ever know if they won their freedom. I was always the one striving for freedom, pushing them… who was to take my place in their lives, to encourage, and push them on? When I saw the games the next year I realized that it was the essence of the game that kept all of us going. It was something that we all loathed, but yet we needed to keep going on with our lives. Some people don't see that and therefore players who do win have to turn back and pull along the others that have lost their hope of ever getting free. Or the ones who come so close to their freedom, must show their resilience of starting over and working all over again from the bottom." There was a reigning silence that spanned throughout the two teams. Then Trowa spoke up, drawing all attention to him. His face held bitterness.   
  
"That is wrong." Relena's eyes narrowed and questioned his reasoning. His full gaze was turned on her now, sending every ounce of his disapproval straight at her. "The reason why it is wrong is because, only five make it from each blood sport to their freedom. In this particular place in the Southern Hemisphere's market, that is only fifteen. If only fifteen make it, you can't give hope to others because there isn't any hope in the first place. Lost Children are forced into their sports…"   
  
"In some cases it should be considered a blessing," interjected Dorothy. All shocked eyes flew back to her, including Lucrezia's. All any of them had heard was Dorothy's curses put onto the children's market, but this was a sudden change and all of them were not prepared for it.   
  
"If you think of it in another way, we all could have ended up in the slave market only meant for servitude. At least as players, we have a chance at getting out, whereas others do not."   
  
"She does have a point," interjected Duo. Heero sent a withering look over to his teammate, but it was only shrugged off.   
  
"I don't see what the big deal is. It really isn't our problem," stated Trowa coldly. Dorothy sighed and shook her head, as if pitying his statement. He glowered over at her and then the attention shifted back to the subject.   
  
"That's why people don't see what I mean as often. It isn't their problem," said Relena. "If everyone said it wasn't their problem, all of us would end up losing in the games. If one player shares a problem, everyone else might as well claim the dilemma as well."   
  
"I still don't agree with you," argued Heero.   
  
"I didn't ask you if you agreed. I didn't even ask you for anything to begin with. All I wanted was for you to figure this out on your own." Heero looked away indifferently and the air suddenly seemed to drop to a dismal shape.   
  
"All we're accomplishing at the moment is getting angry with one another. Some of us are ready for this new little… revelation," said Hilde. "Others are not." She sent a meaningful glance at Heero and Trowa. Trowa merely snorted and looked in a different direction. The PA system prevented her from saying anything further.   
  
"Team 135. Team 135 come to the gate."   
  
"That's us," stated Natria. She stood up and dusted off the loose dirt clinging to her rear and then turned and waited for the other girls, who had followed suit. Lucrezia moaned audibly and also prepared to go back out for one of those gruesome games. She didn't know how they could all stand it! She held her aching back with one of her hands, twisted back around her body as she dramatically limped her way behind the rest of the team. She was going to have to kill Zechs for this. Dorothy smirked slightly and then followed the rest of the team.   
  
Hilde's mind was definitely not on the game at the moment. Yes, her reflexes did assist her, but her thoughts remained on the topic from earlier. It was corny, as she had stated before hand, in more ways than one, but it still made you stop and think. All her life, all she could remember was thinking of how she was going to the games and win the championships and therefore live the life like any normal person, but the concept of letting others join in on that dream never occurred to her, at least, not until Relena had said it.   
  
In reality, Relena was right, as well as Dorothy. It was the notion of winning the games that drove her so hard, nothing else, that and freedom, but some people don't get to experience that even until their death. Some lose their hope of ever winning their freedom and don't even try. Hilde used to despise looking at the people without their hopes and dreams. That's what she had run on all of her life and that's what got her to the championships, but seeing the odds made her change the way she saw everything. What else can a person do if they know they have no chance of escaping slavery? The only thing they can do, forget their hopes and dreams. It was people like Relena and Dorothy that tried to give back those hopes.   
  
Hilde's thoughts were jarred as the ball came flying at her, making them lose the ball momentarily. Natria shot her a confused glance at her teammate when she realized that Hilde had missed a pass and allowed their opponent to take the ball. Relena of course had seen what was happening and snatched the ball away, scoring a point for their team. Hilde blushed slightly as Dorothy sent her a questioning glare. Shrugging, as if nothing had happened, the dark haired player forced herself to concentrate on the game unfolding before them.   
  
Natria was walking around the cage, being that once again, Wufei had been swept off to another game and found a small girl, trying to peer through the turned backs of the slaves, who were watching the games closely. She struggled to see around the bulk and unyielding backs. Natria, letting her curiosity get the better of her, walked over. The girl had to have been no more than five years of age. What on earth was she doing inside of the Cage? Natria approached as the little girl saw her and shied away for a moment. Seeing that her height over the girl intimidated her, Natria squatted down on one knee and smiled gently. The little girl tentively smiled back.   
  
"Hello, what's your name?" asked Natria.   
  
"Geneva," said the girl with a small voice. Natria's smile broadened.   
  
"Well, Geneva, I was wondering what you were doing in here? Shouldn't you be on the other side of the fence?" The little girl shook her head, as if she had been asked before. Natria was slightly confused.   
  
"No, I should be in here, that's what my mommy said."   
  
"Your mother?" The girl nodded vigorously.   
  
"She's playing one of the games out there right now."   
  
"But…" Natria let a moment of a mystified silence fall, and then continued. "Who is your father?"   
  
"My mommy said that our owner was my daddy, but he doesn't seem to want to talk to me much." Natria sighed in understanding. The little girl was the daughter of a Lost Child. She guessed that the owner had taken one of his slaves and Geneva was a result of that ownership.   
  
"How old is your mother?"   
  
"She just turned 20." Natria felt her gut fall out at the thought. Her mother must have been very young when… A sudden cheer from the crowds attracted Geneva's attention and she resumed her shoving to see what was going on. Finally, not able to stand it any longer, Natria pulled the little girl aside.   
  
"Geneva, what are you doing?"   
  
"I want to see my mommy play! I'm going to be out there some day and I want to see how it's done! Mommy won't show me yet!" Natria smiled again and then reached under her uniform to pull out a necklace, barely noticeable against the skin. She held Geneva's hand with the palm open and dropped the object in her hand. Geneva's eyes widened and she kept on looking from Natria to the jewelry resting in the small nest of flesh.   
  
"I want you to keep this, Geneva. It's a sign of what Lost Children stand for." Geneva examined the necklace closer. There was a pendent on it and carved into the metal was a beautiful dove, flying high in the air, looking so free. Geneva's eyes filled with tears for a moment at the beauty of the small picture. "Come on; let's see if we can't get you a better seat." Natria looked around and spotted Malcolm and waved him over. Geneva's eyes widened when she saw this giant sauntering towards them. He had a gentle smile on his lips as he looked from Natria to Geneva.   
  
"Don't worry Geneva. Malcolm may be as big as a bear, but he's as gentle as a kitten. Malcolm, I'd like you to meet Geneva. Geneva, this is Malcolm. Geneva's mother is out on the courts right now and she wants to see the game." Malcolm frowned for a brief moment.   
  
"Are you sure that's a wise thing…"   
  
"Trust me. It's best that she know now what Lost Children must stand for and fight against." Malcolm nodded in understanding and turned a million watt smile on Geneva.   
  
"Well, I guess we're going to have to out shine them all." Geneva, warming to this man's face, sheepishly stepped forward as Malcolm swept her up into a big bear hug, Geneva letting out a whoop of excitement as she was placed on top of huge shoulders. Together, they made their way over to the barrier of the Cage. The people standing there, preventing Geneva from seeing parted now, like the Red Sea did for Moses. Natria watched grimly as they disappeared from sight.   
  
Perhaps Relena was right. Maybe there was more to the game than winning. Her gaze continued to stare after Malcolm and Geneva. 


	15. Chapter 14

The two teams felt very lucky and relieved that they did not have to fight against the boys, but there was always the small nagging knowledge that their luck was never meant to be. In the end, they were going to fight one another. That was the moment that all of them dreaded. To gain something that they strove for all their lives, but would have to give something up they loved in the process, was a kind of terrible torture that they wouldn't wish on their own enemies. This was already hard enough for them as it was, but the girls now had something else to face besides the choice between their freedom and a doomed love. Surprisingly enough, this new concept that Relena and Dorothy had presented seemed to chew at them. Hilde cursed over and over again as in to why this thing about support of other slaves was so damned important to her teammates. It must have been something more than what she saw, but still, she couldn't help but think that it was all a fluke. Maybe she would understand later, at least, that's what she hoped. Natria seemed suddenly more accepting to this than Hilde.   
  
The final championships were about to take place and all of them could practically feel their owners breathing down their necks. They were elated, yet hesitant to finish this long agony of slavery. Cathy had no clue though what was happening to them all or any of the changes.   
  
Trowa was forced to leave Cathy's bedside during the time that she was recovering. Hiroshi was just short of putting a gun against his temple when he would strain against the arms that were trying to make him leave the room. Cathy seemed to remain unchanged in her conditions, but the doctor that Hiroshi had hand chosen came by every day to inspect her skull and found that it was perfectly healed.   
  
"It's as if she doesn't wish to return to us," confided the doctor one day to Hiroshi. Duo had been standing outside of the door, overhearing the conversation and had returned to his friends, waiting outside. Trowa had found this out and had played that day half-heartedly.   
  
By the end of their interval of the games, Cathy was forced to recover by other treatment that the doctor prescribed. Within another day she was awake and playing again on the courts. Trowa kept a close eye on her and almost never left her alone. Cathy of course was rather miffed by this kind of close contact treatment and tried to avoid Trowa at times.   
  
"He treats me like a porcelain doll," she complained to Natria on the courts one day. Natria only smiled a little and turned away, showing no sympathy. Cathy remained annoyed until the games returned for the final championships. 


	16. Chapter 15

This was it. The final championships for the freedom of three teams had finally arrived and the two teams could have hated that day more than their own owners. Yes, their day of freedom was at hand, but only one team would receive it and in order to gain that freedom, they have to defeat each other. The thought blackened their world, even though normally they had expected to all be exuberant and ready to fight. That was far from what it seemed like to them. The championships would take as long as they needed in order to determine the final victors and all the other teams were excited and bustling in anticipation of the games to come.   
  
The games were to be held in huge warehouses, whose owner had been apart of the black market of Lost Children for decades. He had contributed the use of several warehouses and the slaves were all packed into a smaller warehouse than where the actual games were to be held. There was little light to see by and what didn't help the situation, was that it was storming wildly outside. Lightening occasionally flashed across the sky and startled the slaves and owners. That did not help the concentration level though. The rumor had increased in its intensity now and the slaves were restless and the owners were fidgeting as well. Lucrezia seemed to be a wreck. Everything disturbed her and Dorothy seemed to be on high alert as well. Something was definitely out of sort.   
  
The girl's team huddled down in a corner and lay strewed about waiting for their number to be called out for the second time. So far, they had not seen the boys at all. Cathy had been returned to the team at the gates of the warehouse and was reunited as a whole once again. The boys had already been sent inside at that point though and strangely, they had not made the effort to find the girls, which made their spirits falter if not for a moment.   
  
"We didn't need them anyway," grumbled Hilde, breaking through their strange silence. Lucrezia's gaze swept over the girls in front of her and then quickly averted her eyes at one of the windows, watching as the rain poured down hard and fast. These were terrible conditions and it would make things much harder to control. More people would manage to get away.   
  
"Who could you possibly be talking about?" growled Cathy cynically, despising that Trowa had disappeared on her and hadn't even glanced at her as he had walked into the makeshift Cage.   
  
"Come on girls," interrupted Natria. "We knew this was going to happen. If you have to be bitter about it, at least do it somewhere else, you're giving me a headache." Cathy sniffed and looked out the window.   
  
"You know, both of our teams deserve freedom," stated Relena. Everyone froze and looked at Relena, waiting to see what she would say next. She didn't say anything and it seemed as if she wasn't intending to, but then she spoke. "We all worked for this goal for years and why give up what we've worked for, for so long, for something that began a month ago?" The others saw her meaning and decided silently that the subject would remain closed until further notice. Why push everything further when it would only upset them?   
  
Game after game went by and finally there had been several teams eliminated and the few remaining teams were left to battle with one another. What was different about this battle was that the five remaining teams would all be put into a single court without baskets. They were simply to eliminate three teams through this massacre of a method and the remaining teams would be pitted against each other. The other teams looked tough enough. One team was nothing but enormity in muscle and size. Another team was made up of a mixture of girls and guys, and Relena decided she would have to keep an eye out on that team. A mixture of genders meant they normally had something up their sleeves, which deserved severe caution. The third team was a group of boys that were small in comparison to the first team, but they were mean-looking. The slit eyes, the jagged way they walked, the predatorial stare, it all wound up into a picture that sent shivers down some people's spines. Of course, the other two teams that were there as well were Relena and Heero's teams.   
  
The shouts of the crowd were drowned out from the players on the court as they positioned themselves all over the makeshift court. Their stances were tense and the crackling in air could only describe the intensity of the moment as the players looked over each other. Natria stared across and focused in on a young woman that was focused on one of her own team mates, Cathy. Natria smiled slightly, but as she turned a little she saw out of the corner of her eye that Wufei was positioned to strike at her. She felt her heart drop a full inch before she stiffened up against the traitorous feelings filling her mind. Dorothy looked up and down the court and found him. He was standing beside Heero and had his gaze set on a young man near by, who was part of the girl-boy team. Quatre looked up for a moment, feeling the eyes upon his face and spotted Dorothy. She smiled slightly and turned once again on her opponent just a few feet away. Hilde felt as if she was going to pass out from the pure energy flowing through the air. She didn't even notice the crowds anymore, only the people in front of her. If she eliminated them all, her team would surely win their freedom. The thought made her even more edgy.   
  
A long moment passed where everyone held their breath as a red handkerchief was thrown up into the air, signaling the beginning of a slaughter. Everything happened quickly. The all around large team was taken out within a matter of moments because their agility was low in comparison to the other players. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, was the saying and that's exactly what happened. They were new and were not prepared for the swiftness of the other teams. That brought them down. Only one teammate was left standing and therefore that automatically disqualified that team. There were the four teams now. Hilde took a flying leap at a young woman right in front of her and let loose a flurry of blows that could have broken a brick. Unfortunately, the young woman was fast and able to get away without a scratch. The young man that Quatre had set in on had expected the onslaught and dodged away, flying towards Relena's head, intending on breaking her neck. Relena turned just in time to catch it on the side of her head instead. She fell, but her reflexes kicked in and she flipped away from the ground and landed right behind a young woman. She let loose a foot, lodging it into the young woman's leg. A dull crack resounded through the court and the crowd went wild. One of the young men turned at the sound and saw the victim crumpling. He gasped and flew towards the young woman. He held her in his arms for a moment before Relena came crashing down on the back of his head with an elbow. He fell with a thud, passing out before he even hit the ground. The young woman had passed out as well from the pain. Two members of the girl-boy team were out, that left three more. Relena was right about one thing, they had something up their sleeves. They all broke away at the same time and huddled together in a barrier that came flying forward, mowing down several other opponents. It was so quick that Natria didn't see it coming. At that moment, she had been dodging Wufei's blows. He had seen the attack coming, but Natria did not. She flew back several feet before she even hit the ground. The other team members came running, still running on their rampage, right towards her. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the impact. Wufei stared on with narrowed eyes as Natria was thrown once again another ten feet. The attack continued for a few more moments before Cathy, Hilde, and another member of the other boys team jumped in and tore apart the barrier. Natria was a bloody mess. The red liquid ran down her temple and blinding her for a moment. As she stood back up, trying to get the blood out of her eyes, one of the boys from the other team ran forward and kneed her high in the stomach. The air left her lungs as she crumpled down on the ground. Relena shot in and slammed the player back and out of the court. He was disqualified. The barrier was no more as well as the girl-boy team. They were completely eliminated. That left the two boys team and the one girl's team. So far, Relena and Heero had managed to keep all of their players. Natria was in pretty bad shape at this point though.   
  
The fighting was intense and Hilde didn't see the foot coming towards her head until it was too late. She braced herself for the impact, but a blur of brown and black ran by and deflected the foot, giving Hilde enough time to react. She sent a fist right into the lower area of the young man's body. He crumpled, twitching as he went down. Hilde smiled slightly before she turned and looked at that blur that went by. It was Duo. He was busy attacking a young man from the other team. Suddenly, the teams were all against the foreign group of boys and they were immediately destroyed. Two teams remained and a yellow handkerchief was thrown up into the air, signaling the final competition. The roar of cheers that filled the court was deafening, but the players on the court didn't seem to notice at all. In fact, they merely stood there staring at one another. They were all a bloody mess. Two teams were left. Heero's team versus Relena's team; it was all winding down and now the only thing left was for one of the teams to beat the other.   
  
It was the moment they all dreaded. 


	17. Chapter 16

Time seemed to slow as the teams were given a brief moment to situate themselves into their positions. The air was so thick with the tension that it was almost too difficult to breath. The teams moved slowly, examining each other up and down. This was their last game with each other. One would walk away with their freedom, the other would be sent back into the darkness. None of them seemed to know how to react, whether to be hostile, or to cling to one another in a desperate effort to stop the world from spinning and time to flow. As Relena passed by Heero, her eyes lost their sad sheen of tears and were suddenly hard and impenetrable. Heero noticed the sudden change just as he was about to pass her. Without any hesitation, Relena hacked up a huge ball of spit and let it fly, landing on the ground in front of Heero. He stopped, staring at her over his shoulder as she continued towards her place. He determined from this sudden exchange that she intended to take this game to its very limits. This revelation hardened Heero's resolve. He swore that his team would be the victors, pushing away the sudden aching in his chest at the thought of what his team had to do.   
  
The other members of Heero's team had seen Relena's actions and saw that they had been given a path to follow and they would take it. It was laid out now and there was to be no turning back. Quatre looked across the court, studying his opponents. They stood stiffly in their fighting stances, waiting for the ball to be introduced into the arena. Not one weakness was found, that is, until his eyes fell on Relena. She stood casually, almost limply before Heero. Her eyes were hard as stone, like the others, but she looked as if she was standing on the side of a street. Quatre frowned, finding this odd.   
  
The roar of the crowd within the arena had dulled to a muted murmur. The rumors of these teams had spread so fast and so wide that everyone was anticipating this game. Everyone already knew that these two teams would come out as the championship players. Bets were evenly distributed between the two teams. By now the unconscious or lifeless bodies had been removed from the arena and pulled to the side, leaving only the bloodied ground, two aching teams, and a smudged dream of hope. The owners in the crowd leaned forward in their seats, their eyes concentrating indefinitely upon the 10 figures down below. It was common knowledge that this fight was to be the most spectacular game played ever in the Lost Children market of the Southern Hemisphere.   
  
Relena had set it up perfectly. Now was the time that she dreaded the most. Not the fight against Heero and his team. They would have their trophy and freedom by the end of the day. She dreaded the disappointment, shock, betrayal, and anger written on her teammate's faces when she carried through with this mission of hope for the other Lost Children. A tear escaped through the carefully set barrier, but it was lost in the intensity of the moment. Relena looked around to her other players. Everyone was prepared for this, but her. Her eyes met with Dorothy's, portraying her deep sadness, displaying the actions that were about to be emitted from her. Dorothy's hardened eyes threw a questioning look.   
  
No words were said as the ball was finally tossed up into the air. Heero and Relena were to both jump for the ball, but only one reached it. Relena stood stoically watching as the ball was taken down court without anyone to guard Heero's mad dash. Dorothy clashed knives with Duo, clenching her jaw as she took on the full onslaught of his attack. As she struggled in a stalemate with her opponent, she turned to glance at her captain, who still stood in the exact place that she had started. Her head was bowed, her back stiff. Dorothy's eyes widened when she saw the tear slide down her captain's jaw. Dorothy unexpectedly dropped out from under Duo's pressure and rolled out towards Relena. She stumbled to her feet as she sped forward, standing in front of Relena, gripping the other woman's shoulders. Dorothy's eyes searched hers, trying to find anything that would give an answer. Then it all came in a flash, she knew exactly why Relena was not willing to fight this game. It was a decision she had made long ago. Dorothy's eyes softened in understanding and nodded her agreement. Relena's eyes were filled with a hope that maybe someone else understood why she had to do this; why she didn't fight back.   
  
Neither had a chance to say anything before Duo redirected his attack and ran over to them, knocking them both down in a single blow. They fell without resistance, sprawled out on the unrelenting ground. Tears spilled from Relena's eyes as the pain and exhaustion were setting in, her adrenaline exhausted from the last three tournaments. It was time for it all to end.   
  
Natria let out a low growl as she tried to grab a hold Quatre's leg, attempting to make him lose his footing. Instead he reached around her bag and flipped her back in an awkward position, causing her face to land in a harsh angle. She let out some air between her teeth as a tear dripped down the corner of her face from the sudden onslaught of pain. Gathering her strength, she flipped away from the attacks, but he followed her every step, slashing as he went. Natria saw she had no way out but to reverse her attack and go at him straight on. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself to jump back at him, but her eye caught sight of Dorothy and Relena, lying prone on the ground, staring up at Duo with blank eyes. They looked as if they had no will left to play. The moment of hesitance cost her, for Quatre pulled back his fist, holding his knife and let it drive into her stomach. The blunt side made a cracking sound against one of her ribs. She knew it wasn't broken, but badly bruised. She let out a gasp, hunching over, losing all her air at once. Her mouth dropped open, trying to gasp for air, but not able to suck any in. Quatre stood back, staring coldly down at her hunched figure. It would only take one move to end it all for her. That's all it would take.   
  
At that point, Wufei saw Natria collapse into a fit of suffocation. Her name rose to his lips, but it was immediately cut off by a fresh attack of blows from Hilde. She was pulling out hidden weapons left and right and letting them disappear just as quickly. He almost didn't even know where they appeared and where they vanished. He grit his teeth as he prepared to take a stand against her. When out of the corner of his eye, he saw the first point being played out. Hilde paused as well to watch.   
  
Heero had gotten all the way down the court to the hoop and there was only Cathy there to stop him. Using all the strength she could gather she rushed out in front of his charge and took in the full force of his body. At the same moment, she whipped out her dull knife, intending on hindering Heero's flight for the hoop. Trowa reached her just in time to grab hold of both of her legs, pulling them together. Cathy quickly lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, her knife skittering across the ground to the side of the arena. Letting out a feral growl, she swung around and caught Trowa's face with her nails. A small trail of blood made its way down his jaw. Cathy's eyes widened at what she had done and she was momentarily stunned by the look on Trowa's face. At first it was one of bewilderment and then one of understanding. Cathy shook herself from that gaze and turned just in time to see Heero leaping for the hoop. Heero saw her coming and turned so that his foot landed on the side of her head. Her head snapped back with a dizzying force. For several instances, she flew threw the air, landing hard, next to her dagger. She could barely lift herself from the ground as she watched helplessly. The ball went smoothly through the net. For the second that followed it seemed almost silent. Cathy stared around her and took in Natria's crumbled form, still gasping for air, Quatre, pulling back a step, realizing what had just happened Hilde and Wufei's startled looks and the immobile Dorothy and Relena. That was what stunned her the most.   
  
The one second passed and the crowd came to life with violent outbursts and vehement curses. It wasn't fair! The other team hardly fought back! The whole thing must have been rigged; there was no other way that this was possible.   
  
Gathering her strength, Cathy rose from her place on the ground, ignoring Trowa's worried glances. He remained indifferent to the naked eye, but she knew he was still concerned. Relena and Dorothy stood together, still facing the opposite direction, knowing already that the other team had scored the first point. Natria limped over, with a slight hunch to her back as she was followed by Hilde and Cathy. They gathered closely. Hilde's eyes were flaming.   
  
"What in hell were you doing out there? You didn't move any further than where Duo shoved you both! What the hell is going on?" she screamed at the top of her lungs. It was drowned out by the clamor that was going on in the stands. Relena looked at each of her teammates sadly and shook her head, looking down, biting her lip. Cathy's eyes narrowed. Hilde's face grew deadly. Her hands clenched as she took a step forward towards Relena.   
  
"What are you trying to pull, Relena?" she hissed quietly. Relena's blue depths met her friends and Hilde immediately knew what had happened or what had been happening for a long time. "No, you can't be serious!" She shot a finger pointing to the other team who was looking rather bewilderedly at them. "We knew from the beginning that we had to beat them in order to gain our freedom. You knew that along with the rest of us!" she cried. Her voice could barely be heard.   
  
Relena's gaze turned from sad to an icy glare. She had to now harden herself against the accusing glares. Dorothy stepped forward then and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and faced their team.   
  
"Relena decided to do this long ago. It was nothing that other team did that made her do this." Natria spat on the ground and gave a harsh glare at Relena and Dorothy.   
  
"Well, this is a team, and this team member is not going to lose." With that final sentence, she turned around and faced the other direction. At that moment, lightening ran across the sky, lighting up the outside. There, standing unnoticed was Geneva. A huge grin was spread across her face. Evidently, she had snuck out of the Cage and come to watch Natria play this final and decisive game. "Hope for the slaves." Relena spoke the words quietly. They would have been drowned out, but to Natria, it was as if it was louder than anything else in that arena. All of her fury and anger dissipated in an instant as she made eye contact with that little girl standing in the rain, waving with a huge grin. Geneva knew that Natria was capable of winning. She had seen the games now and knew that people, no matter what they feel, had to fight ruthlessly for that freedom. She had snuck out to cheer Natria on in this game. Natria turned to glance over at Hilde, who stood stiffly beside Cathy. If slaves thought that this bleak life was only for the games and to win, then what else was there for the many that wouldn't make it if they knew they were not going to win? Through one's actions, people's worlds can be rearranged. Sacrifices had to be made so that those who deserved it more can go out and do more with their own lives. Perhaps the ones that are left behind will grow so restless and so filled with the hope given by others, that they may even become rebellious, fighting their owners for freedom. Natria smiled at the thought of the girls rising up against Owner. They had been in servitude and punishment for so many years that they never once thought of raising a hand against the one who owned them. Natria realized that she was playing along with exactly what the announcers and the people in the stands wanted. They wanted to see her desperate, so desperate that they wanted to see her crawl on all fours to get her freedom. Natria felt her back stiffen. She would not give them what they wanted. She would die before she would crawl in front of Geneva… and Wufei. This was the end of the road for her fighting, no matter the consequences.   
  
Hilde felt her heart sink further as she saw Natria straighten, staring at Relena and finally nodding her agreement. She didn't know what had gone through Natria's head in those brief moments, but it was enough to make her change her mind and therefore, lose the tournament. Now, with only two players willing to fight for their freedom, they had no chance at all in succeeding in that goal.   
  
"No!" she wanted to cry it at the top of her lungs. "Not when we've come so far! Not now!" The words were frozen within her throat, refusing to come out. Then her eyes drifted to Duo. His face hard and she remembered back to her thoughts of sharing her dream of freedom. A quiet moment when Duo held her gently in his arms after sharing their love, sharing his dreams of what he wanted to do if he was no longer bound to slavery. He had plans; he wanted to be a mechanic and maybe even join the air force. He held such a boy like grin on his face. It almost broke Hilde's heart at the time. Then she realized, she had no dreams. The only thing she ever strove for was winning the championships. Then what? She felt the slight moment of panic wash over and then came her realization. Duo had something planned already. Hilde had nothing, only the faint dream of winning the money and her freedom. What was she going to do after that? She had no skills outside of the arena. She wasn't particularly a genius and she had no special knowledge of how to do anything. With the games taken away, it would leave her empty. An empty shell would walk through the streets without direction. This is what the market had planned. It had wiped everything out of the minds of its slaves to the point where the game consumed them. After they would win, there was nothing left. Hilde chilled at the thought of so many others going through the terrible things she had seen and endured. She felt her insides turn at some of the memories. On the outside, one could physically see Hilde breaking down slowly from the idea of winning her freedom. 


	18. Chapter 17

It seemed as if they stood there for centuries, Natria crumbled, Relena staring over the confused looks crossing Cathy's face. Hilde had finally given in to the fact that life was not going to be better on the outside. There was no hope left to give this team, except the challenge of giving what little knowledge they had to others who would surely come after them one day. Cathy felt baffled at first, not knowing what to say about any of what was happening in that arena. Then it began to dawn on her. What Relena was doing was giving up the ball, the tournament, their freedom.   
  
"No!" she screamed as loud as possible. The boys' attention were drawn to her. Cathy ignored the looks she was receiving from them and her own team. She glared directly at the man holding the ball. The game had obviously rolled to a stop at this point. She intended to continue. "Set the ball," she ordered quietly. She took up the position of where Relena stood. She faced off against Heero, who seemed not to know what to do. The other team all stood huddled up in the center, not moving, or taking positions. Regardless of the position of the teams, the ball was thrown into the air and once again, Cathy took off after the ball with Heero looking to shove her out of the way. She easily avoided, realizing that the other team was all charging straight for her. No one was going to guard her. She was an open target and no one would be there to assist her. She had managed to grab a hold of the ball, but was soon sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the light fixtures above. Relena? Dorothy? Hilde? Natria? Why aren't any of you helping me? She closed her eyes, biting her lip to keep from screaming her frustration. The boys had stopped by now and stared intently at the other team. Assessing the situation was the only thing they could do. Cathy opened her eyes and saw through the watery film of tears Relena's figure standing above her. Fury and hatred welled up within her and she was up on her feet before anyone knew what was happening. She slapped Relena across the face several times, screaming her frustration and hurt from the betrayal she was dealt. Relena simply allowed her to beat her to her heart's desire. She deserved it and if this was a small price to pay, then so be it. Cathy may have her revenge. Finally, emotionally and physically spent, Cathy stopped hitting her captain, her eyes were shut tightly, leaking tears. Her hands gripped tightly, as if to a lifeline to Relena's jersey. She crumbled in front of Relena, allowing herself to clutch her captain's ankle, weeping. "Please," she sobbed. "Relena, don't do this to us, to me." Relena looked down pityingly on her friend and teammate and laid a small caress on the top of her head leaning against her.   
  
"This game is not for us, Cathy," Relena whispered. Cathy looked up.   
  
"Then what has it all been for?" she said hoarsely in despair. Relena smiled sadly and looked around at the people raging in the stands.   
  
"For those who need hope and have dreams." Cathy's eyes narrowed with the new onslaught of tears. Shaking her head, she stood up and stared into Relena's eyes. With that brief contact, she saw that Relena was not doing this out of spite or anger. She was as badly wounded by this as everyone else. Cathy realized that it was hopeless. The other team had already scored the first point. It was irreversible. If this was the way it was to end, then she would see it through with her team and friends. Wiping viciously at her tears she turned to stare at Trowa who stood bewildered and smiled ironically. A simple gesture of 'you win'.   
  
Throughout this whole exchange, Duo had come to realize the extent of what was happening. The point was played and they were not planning on scoring at all. The girls were giving up. Relena had tricked them into playing at their best only to find they had no competition. His disbelief and shock sank in as slow as molasses. Then his anger and denial began to form from this. Without hesitation, he walked up to Heero, who still held the ball, and took it from his captain's hands. Heero gave no resistance, seeing that this had gone completely out of control. His teeth were grit as he watched Duo make a beeline towards Hilde, his steps deliberate. Hilde tried her best ignoring him, crossing her arms, shifting from one foot to the other, looking down at her feet, as the tears continued to stream down her face. Without a word, he shoved the dirty ball into her resistant hands. She refused to move, only touching the ball as little as possible. A child could have knocked it out of her grasp and with little resistance.   
  
Duo felt his panic rising as he grasped hold of her shoulders, wanting to shake some sense into her thick skull. Instead he shoved her in the direction of her hoop. It was obvious he wanted her to play against him, at least make the effort to fight back. Hilde only stumbled and fell to the ground, leaving the ball to role freely on the open court. Silence reigned, with a few murmurs lacing the edges. Duo stared on at her, his jaw taught and his face set in stone, but his eyes shined with a sheen of tears. His jaw trembled slightly. His eyes pierced hers as she looked up at him, the tears falling like small crystals.   
  
"Get up," he whispered. She did not move. "Get up and play damn you!" Duo's eyes narrowed as he walked around her hunched figure and went to retrieve the ball. Without hesitation, he carried it to the hoop and shot it through, scoring another point for his team. He turned to stare at the others and saw they still made no move to defend themselves. He continued to take the ball and add one point after another. He had scored five times before his eyes spilled over and his mask crumbled into nothing. He gripped the ball tightly, not knowing what he could do. He turned grimly towards Hilde, who sat staring at him. With a cry, he fell to his knees, the ball bouncing away, his hands covering his face as if he was in agony.   
  
Quatre watched on, not knowing what to do. They were going to win their freedom, the thought disgusted him. His stomach turned in ten different directions all at once. As he turned his gaze over to Dorothy, he saw that she was clenching her fists. Her eyes were alert, watching as things began to unravel. Quatre stocked towards her, not even realizing he had moved. He felt a growl growing on his lips. Dorothy felt her arm nearly being yanked from its socket. She turned to stare bewildered into ocean blue eyes. Her heart shattered at the deep pain that was filling this person's soul.   
  
"Quatre," she whispered, not in surprise, more in a plea for him to understand. His grip tightened.   
  
"What are you doing? What are you hoping to accomplish," he growled. She had never seen him angry before. It was frightening, yet invigorating at the same time.   
  
"You will live your life out in freedom. That is what I want for you," she whispered. Her eyes beginning to sting sharply at the edges.   
  
"What about what I want?" he demanded quietly, dangerously. She initially felt as if she had to back away from him, but she forced herself not to move.   
  
"This is what you want," she whispered hoarsely. He shook her almost violently.   
  
"This is not what I want!" he nearly yelled. "I wanted you! I still want you! Damn it Dorothy! I love you! At least defend yourself!" Dorothy felt herself collapsing with every thought. She felt his hand gently caressing her face. She leaned into his hand, her eyes never leaving his.   
  
"You love me?" she asked in wonder. No one had ever said those words to her before; no one. She shook herself from her daze. It was all the more reason for her to lose this tournament. He had to give this love to someone who deserved it. She would disappear after this into another district. Away from him, so he was left with no reminders. This had to end now or else she would crumble and admit everything to him. The way she felt for him from the moment they met. She would tell him who she really was and why she was there in that damned arena. Everything would be over. It all had to end or else there would be no way out. Dorothy leaned forward and gently kissed Quatre. Her lips were soft and felt like feathers. She felt her head swirl in different directions. Quatre clung to her as if she was the only person left in the entire universe. He poured all the passion he could muster into that fleeting moment. Quatre clutched desperately to her as she tried to pull away. Not yet, just another moment. He had a terrible sensation that this might be the end for him and his love for this woman. Dorothy finally gathered the strength to shove Quatre away with enough force to cause him to stumble backwards. He stared up at her in confusion. She felt the tears running in rivulets down her cheeks. She stared up at the announcers, who had long since shut their gaping jaws. Her eyes hardened into hatred.   
  
"TEAM 135 FORFEITS THIS GAME. TEAM 59 WINS BY DEFAULT!" A roar went up in the crowds. This was impossible. At this point they were supposed to be ripping each other's throats out. What happened? Quatre had shot forward immediately as if he was able to stop what she was saying. It was all over! She had ended it.   
  
Wufei's eyes widened with shock. The team had forfeited. He was officially a free man, but he despised the thought. He stared openly at Natria, who still sat crumbled on the ground. He shot forward, as if he was suddenly being pulled away from her and it was his last chance in a mad dash to grab a hold of her. He didn't even look at her face. He forced her to bury herself in his shoulder. She wept quietly, her shoulders shuddering. He felt his heart splitting into a thousand pieces. This was a nightmare. It couldn't be happening.   
  
Trowa stood not far from Cathy. He watched as the last bit of hope for her freedom slid away. She let it go willingly as if she was sacrificing it for a good cause. She didn't seem to understand that the freedom didn't mean anything to him if she wasn't there. Now it was impossible. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered in his eyes. He was in shock. That could be the only explanation that could be given as in to why he turned away, and walked several paces away from the two teams. He turned to look over his shoulder as he saw Duo shaking Hilde violently, trying to make her move, fight, anything! He felt his eyes slide shut, trying to shut out the terrible agony building in his heart.   
  
Heero glared at Relena, not bothering to look at Dorothy. For some reason, he had a hunch that she was the cause of all of this. He walked slowly, steadily towards her relaxed figure. She had planned this all out. Their earlier conversations came rushing back into his mind. How she seemed dead set on giving hope to others. He felt his mind curl with indignation and fury.   
  
"Tell her to withdraw that statement," he ordered coldly. Relena simply raised her head another degree, her jaw shaking slightly, showing what kind of wreck she was in.   
  
"No." It was a simple answer, but it was all the defiance that anyone could have thrown at Heero at that moment.   
  
"Do it!" he growled more forcefully.   
  
"You're a free man now Heero. Take your freedom and go. Leave us be and don't ever think of us again."   
  
"You don't know what you're asking of me." She smiled sadly, looking at Duo who now was holding Hilde tightly, his face portraying his torture.   
  
"I know what I'm asking of you. You can do it. It's simple. Now go." Now it was his turn to be defiant.   
  
"No." They stared at each other, not knowing what to do. The game was officially over. The men were free to go. The women were left to stay in servitude. 


	19. Chapter 18

High up in the stands, Owner sat with clenched pudgy fists. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets. The color of his face had changed several hues, finally ending a deep shade of red. The right corner of his eye ticked methodically as his temper began to boil over. Down below, he watched as Wufei held on tighter to Natria as several guards came were beginning to move in and separate the teams. Wufei looked as crazed as any man could be in a moment of losing someone dear to him.   
  
Utter chaos ensued throughout the warehouse. Fights broke out among the gamblers; announcers struggled to get away from outraged audience members. It was a mad calamity inside and out. Geneva stood outside, her arms slack, her head staring on with a blank expression. What had just happened? Natria… lost? How could this be? Natria was the best, that's what Malcolm had said about her team. Geneva felt her little fists clench as her tears began to form around the corners. Natria was so nice to her earlier. Geneva knew that if there was God, He would let her live in freedom. No one as kind as her would be meant to live a life like this. Geneva felt her stomach flip as she was suddenly lifted from behind. Her eyes widened as she looked into light blue eyes. He gently placed a finger over his lips, indicating for her to be quiet. She smiled a little and nodded; she liked this man. He didn't seem so cold like all the other men she had met. His blue eyes twinkled and his long blond hair was matted down to his forehead. Geneva looked down and her eyes widened as they caught sight of a gun in a holster at his side. He smiled.   
  
"I'm here to help all of you," he whispered as he moved out of view from the doorway. Inside had turned into utter turmoil, he would find out why. It would make it all the easier to slip inside for his men.   
  
"Are you an angel sent by God to help Natria?" she asked naively. Zechs gave her a confused look, but only smiled and shook his head slightly.   
  
"No, but if you want to think of me as an angel, you go right on ahead. Where is your mother, honey?" Geneva frowned.   
  
"She's in the Cage still." Zechs nodded.   
  
"Can you show me where that is? We're going to get all of the Lost Children out of here. You're going to be free." Geneva grinned, new light gleaming her eyes.   
  
"Mama, me, Natria, and Malcolm are all free now?" she cried joyfully. Zechs quickly replaced his finger over his lips again, indicating she had to be quiet again and he nodded silently. Geneva grinned and covered her mouth with her hands, trying to keep from laughing to the mountaintops.   
  
"So, want to show me where the Cage is?" Geneva nodded and jumped down, leading him the way.   
  
The noise inside the arena had grown to an enormous uproar. Dorothy, Relena, and Cathy had all managed to knock out every guard that came near them to take them away, but the numbers were gathering on the edge of the court, waiting to all leap at once. The other team was trying their best to help, but they knew it was inevitable. The chaos and commotion was suddenly broken by the ringing of several blasts ricocheting through the air. Many murmurs ran through the crowds now as people turned to see Owner, standing at the bottom of the steps, right next to the arena. Natria suddenly collapsed, her left leg giving out from underneath her. Wufei reached her just as she fell and faded away into unconsciousness by the sudden jolt of pain. At the same time, Hilde fell with an abrupt thud, blood leaking profusely from an open wound in her side. Duo shot forward and grabbed a hold of her, holding her tightly against him, examining what had happened. Everyone's eyes all turned towards Owner holding a small gun in his right hand. He moved slowly as if in a trance.   
  
"I… I could have had everything. I could have been the richest man in the southern hemisphere and you ruined it!" His voice echoed off the rafters and hollow walls. All stopped to watch with a morbid silence. The light patter of rain could now be heard like a million drums. Finally, Owner reached one of his players, Cathy and aimed carefully for her heart.   
  
"I will… kill you, you ungrateful little vixens!" He paused, as if contemplating, his eyes dilated with the overwhelming insanity. His head tilted a little to the side. "Who should I start with? Perhaps the captain?" He slowly swung it around towards Relena. She stiffened, not daring to move, a doe, caught in the middle of a highway. "Or, perhaps I should begin with you?" He pointed it directly at Dorothy. Quatre visibly tensed as if preparing to leap. "I have had enough of you worthless piles of garbage. You have been nothing but nuisances to me. It is time I ended your stay here." His finger squeezed down on the trigger.   
  
"No!" cried Quatre rushing forward, his foot flying towards the hand. It swung around, missing Dorothy by mere inches. Cathy felt the impact in her arm. With a muffled scream, she gripped her limb and fell to her knees. At that very moment, all hell broke loose. A huge explosion rang throughout the warehouse property. People were racing for the exits only to find they were blocked by armed men and women. People outside were running in utter chaos as huge black vans and agents rounded up the fleeing market men. No one had a clue as in to what was happening, except Dorothy. At that moment, lightening found its way to the building, causing the old, rickety roof to shatter and come crashing down. Throughout the chaos, Quatre had continued to disarm Owner, landing a roundhouse kick into his throat, crushing his air passage. He knelt choking, holding his broken airway with his thick hands. His eyes now bulging even further, looking like a fish out of water. Heero walked up coolly, twirling a knife in his fingers, Owner staring on in horror. It only took one slash and the barbarous man was dead, surrounded by his own blood. Smoke rose as people tried desperately to get out before the metal broke loose of the top of building. Heero looked up just in time to see Hiroshi making his way out a small door in the back. There, awaited a car with an open door. The rain pelted down relentlessly on the vehicle as Hiroshi got in, sparing one last glance at his team. He gave a small wry smile and then he was gone from Heero's sight forever. It was at that moment that Heero realized what was happening. Within moments, through the disarray, everyone found their way out of the collapsing building on way or another.   
  
It took several hours for things to become remotely under control. The United Government had stepped into the Championship Tournament and infiltrated the black market at its most pivotal moment. The slaves were found and freed, taken to shelters were they could recover or be helped to get on their feet. Owners and announcers were arrested left and right. The government had made a goal of crushing the black market, and that day had come. The major leaders and providers were taken into custody and people were able to finally look forward to freedom.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Smoke rose steadily from the burnt warehouse below. Wufei stood watching from atop of a huge hill, holding Natria close. Her eyes took in the damage that had been caused and the freedom that had been brought to the Lost Children inside of the complex.   
  
"Set me down, Wufei," she hissed as the pain crawled up her leg once again. Wufei grinned and shook his head. He gently set her down on her good leg and let her lean on him. They both turned to stare at the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulances.   
  
"You know, there are other markets to break," commented Natria. Wufei glanced at her and let a small wry smile cross his lips. His eyes returned to the scene ahead of them.   
  
"But it's not our problem." Natria lightly punched his arm, and then in the same instant gently took hold of his hand.   
  
"It's always been our problem. I will not consider myself free until every market has been destroyed." Wufei's grip tightened on her fingers.   
  
"Shall we go find some then?" he offered nonchalantly. Natria nodded her approval.   
  
"The sooner the better." They slowly turned and began to make their way away from their pasts and into the future, with only a brief glance from Natria over her shoulder, knowing her teammates were safe.   
  
Further down within the chaos, stood Quatre next to Dorothy, holding her close to his side as people raced from one side to the other. Lucrezia approached them with a warm blanket enveloping her shoulders. Zechs followed at a close distance.   
  
"Good work, Dorothy. The chief was impressed with the information you gave to us. He wants you to consider staying on not as an extra, but as Lead-Coordinator of L.C. Operations," grinned Lucrezia. Quatre glanced at Dorothy with confusion, who only gave him a soft look as she turned back to Lucrezia.   
  
"What about you? Are you staying with your partner then?" a very suggestive tone taking over her voice. Lucrezia blushed deeply as Zechs came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, grinning the whole time.   
  
"Yes, she plans on it." Dorothy smiled.   
  
"Tell the chief that I decided I'm quitting the agency once and for all. I'm sick of this messed up business. I want to be normal now." Lucrezia thought for a moment of trying to convince her ex-partner otherwise, but thought better of it. Instead, she only smiled gently and reached out to shake Dorothy's hand.   
  
"I want to wish you good luck then," she said sincerely. Dorothy accepted the outstretched hand and smiled brightly. After a moment, she turned and began to walk away with Quatre following beside her.   
  
"Dorothy? What was all that…" She cut him off quickly with a deep kiss, catching him of guard. Just as swiftly, she pulled away, her arms still held tightly around his neck. He stood stunned.   
  
"Ever had coffee before Quatre?" He gave her a strange look.   
  
"What?"   
  
"Coffee. It's pretty good when you're this tired. Let me buy you some coffee and we'll call it a night. Tomorrow we can start to look to find a place for you." Quatre grinned, everything finally sinking in.   
  
"Is it all right if I just stay at your place?" Dorothy raised an eyebrow at his correct assumption.   
  
"What makes you think I have a place?" He shrugged and smiled, making her heart stop momentarily.   
  
"I figured if you had a job, you would have a place." Dorothy nodded and leaned forward, allowing her forehead to touch his.   
  
"I thought I was coming here to fight old demons. Instead, I found you. Come on, let's go home." With that, Dorothy linked her arm around his waist as she led him off into the city streets.   
  
Trowa stood hunched over Cathy, trying to convince her to stay awake. Her eyes fluttered once or twice before her eyes focused on his face. Her cold fingers reached up to touch his face gently.   
  
"Trowa…" His eyes lightened as the medics made their way towards them. She saw them coming and her eyes widened in fear. "Don't let them take me! Please, don't leave me with them alone!" She became frantic as they drew closer. Trowa made hushing sounds as he rubbed her head comfortingly. He signaled the medics to back away. They grumbled a little, but did as indicated. Slowly, Trowa began to lift Cathy into his arms. He stood there for a moment, her curled against him with his arms protectively forming a circle around her.   
  
"You do realize I will stay with you forever, don't you?" She stiffened and stopped hiding her face against his shoulder to stare up at him.   
  
"Trowa?" He brought his face very close to hers.   
  
"I guess that means we're going to have to get hitched. That is… if you'll take me." Cathy cried out in merriment, wrapping her arms around him crying out her agreement, it only lasted a moment as the pain returned and she let out a howl. At that signal, the medics came forward and began to tend to her wounds. Trowa smiled down at her as she was calmed by his hand resting in her own. The soft flesh was warm now. They were going to begin a life now, only this time, it would be fresh and without games to worry about. It would be very difficult, learning everything there is to know about surviving out there with the real world, but that would come later. All Cathy could think of was Trowa at that moment. Freedom was something they had attained together.   
  
"Hilde!" Duo's desperate voice rang out over the chaos. "Hilde wake up damn it!" he shook her slightly so he didn't open up her wound again. She had not recovered consciousness yet from her ordeal with Owner. He was so afraid for her that he wouldn't even let the medics go near her. He kept on shaking her, trying to make her open her eyes. Finally, the medics were able to pry him away, immediately setting to work, putting in the IV's. Hilde's eyes fluttered as she was put up on a stretcher.   
  
"Duo?" Her eyes widened as she was being lifted into the air. "DUO!" She began to struggle the pain flaring up once again, running through her sides. "Where… where are they taking me?" she cried out. At the sound her of frightened voice, Duo immediately jumped up after the medics.   
  
"Where are you taking her?" he demanded. The medics were clearly at their rope's end.   
  
"To the hospital if you would allow us," one growled out.   
  
"I'm going with you!" The medic gave him a disapproving look.   
  
"I'm afraid I can't allow that…" Duo grabbed the man's front shirt.   
  
"If you take her away I probably won't see her again. I'm going whether you like it or not." The medic gulped loudly and finally nodded vigorously. Duo quickly jumped in with Hilde, gripping her hand tightly in his own.   
  
"Just hold on Babe, don't give out on me." Her eyes fluttered sleepily.   
  
"I won't Duo. I promise. I won't leave you, now that I've found you." Duo smiled as the tears began to well up in his eyes. The feeling was beginning to sink in. They were free… together. Who knows what the future will bring?   
  
Throughout the chaos and mass hysteria, Heero searched for Relena, she had suddenly disappeared after the explosion and collapse of the roof. He had lost sight of her in the dust and rain. At some point the rain had subsided leaving cold and muddy ground all around the warehouses. Outside people were being nursed and loaded into ambulances. Others into police cars. Just as he was giving up hope in finding her, he saw a faint outline of a person walking calmly away among the settling mist. He knew it was her right away. His heart jumped as he ran forward to catch up with her. He grabbed hold of her hand, spinning her around. Her face was strangely blank.   
  
"Where are you going?" he asked tensely. She glanced up at him and smiled.   
  
"We're free. I'm going wherever I feel like going."   
  
"I'm going with you." She smiled sadly.   
  
"No, you should try to forget everything that's happened. Start anew. Forget about me." She tried turning away again, but he persisted.   
  
"You've already explained that little idea once today. I'd think that you'd take the hint that I wasn't going to listen." Relena examined him up and down for a moment.   
  
"Heero…" she was going to refuse him again.   
  
"I need you in my life Relena. You are my life…" He pulled her in for a tight embrace. Wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer. "Stay with me." After a moment of silence, Relena pulled back and stared at him, her face changed, one to wonder.   
  
"You mean it… you want me to stay with you?" He nodded sincerely. She grinned, throwing her arms over his neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss. It seemed as if eternity passed in that kiss. Finally, they pulled apart, both staring hungrily into each other's eyes. Not a hunger of physical passion, but a hunger for love.   
  
"All right," cried Relena. "Let's go." She turned in her earlier direction and began to walk, gripping his hand tightly.   
  
"Where?" asked Heero as they made their way away from the broken warehouses.   
  
"Anywhere."  
  
~~~FIN~~~  
  
Author's Note: To tell you honestly, I never would have finished this fanfiction if I hadn't received so many requests and support from my readers. It was really incredible to know that people liked this story in particular. Thank you so much for all of your support. This story is dedicated for all of you, the dreamers, and people looking for hope in their lives. God bless you all. Amanda. 


	20. Epilogue

So as it happened, the world of the Lost Children was slowly abolished and many children found new homes and loving families. For those who were much older in these games of blood and death, well, most of them found that they still could not escape the life as a Lost Child, even in freedom. They spent their strengths and energy all in the destruction of the black market. It was through their work and contribution that finally the Northern Hemisphere of the Lost Children Market and finally, the central market was destroyed.   
  
Now, children only hear the lost myth of the market where children and young adults were sold like cattle. Never were the names ever recorded of the people who played a huge part in the emancipation of the enslaved generation, but those who were once in the market never spoke of it in their later years. Soon, the whole subject drifted into nothing with time and history began to ravel all over again. It was a textbook subject and no one questioned history. That was the way the Lost Children wanted it; it was history. A new life had begun. No one wished to remember the details. It was a massive blur now and so it would stay for the rest of time as long as people kept looking at their feet and not where they had last stepped. 


End file.
